Fire in the Flame
by Beckon
Summary: Fingers parted slightly as she pushed aside a loose lock of blonde hair and looked up to the blue-haired Commander; black marks scorched across one cheek while his armor showed signs of fresh damages.
1. Chapter 1

The feeling of heat completely surrounding him was terrifying and he wouldn't hesitate to admit that he was frightened by it.

His armor felt heavier as the flames grasped at anything to spread its warmth and destruction; he could feel a rush of heat run up against his left arm as the few inches of material between his armor caught fire. He didn't have time to deal with it though… he had to get these people to safety and keep them out of harm's way. Kieran and Marcia were already chasing the remainder of the Begnion forces down while Makalov and Astrid were trying to get some of the fires under control. He had lost track of Calill and Danved awhile back but… there wasn't time for roll call right now.

They weren't expecting the enemy forces to run this close into the city... he wasn't expecting them to panic this drastically.

There were fires all around him; uncontrollable, untamable waves of red and orange that continued to sweep up into the sky above them. The once clear skies were darkened with black clouds that spread overhead like some kind of spill. It was difficult to hear the various screams that echoed all around them as clueless, panicked civilians ran all over the burning town. Houses and buildings were set in flames as the once sturdy oak wood supports began to crumble down into black ash; the creaking and crackling of secondary floors crashing down into the floors below was horrifying- especially when sets of screams became dead silence afterwards.

Bracing himself, he turned slightly and slammed a shoulder into the brittle wood of one of the back walls; feeling the structure give in to the sudden force and snap easily underneath his weight. The collision was enough to vibrate painfully throughout his body but the following shower of splinters forced his attention elsewhere. The mass of black smoke behind him rushed forward and almost felt like an encasing hand that moved to grab him; to pull him back into the mortal hell that resided in the burning inn. He ducked down slightly with the escape to try and keep pieces of the splintered wood from getting into his eyes and continued to move away from the crumbling structure behind him. It felt like smoke had coated every inch inside of his lungs and was slowly suffocating him from the inside out; he practically had to force out every heavy cough just to breathe and even then it brought a greater amount of pain from his chest.

It was almost inhuman to say that he preferred the bloodstained, open fields to the close encounters like this.

At least out in the fields there were no worries about being caught and trapped in a confined area; left to suffocate and burn all at the same time.

A lighter collection of coughing caught his attention and slowly brought it back to the small child he had carried in one arm. His armor had carried on a decent job of keeping her protected from the flames, even though the outer portion of his right arm felt like it had been burned down to the bone itself; he could feel the blood soaking through the thick material of his uniform underneath. For once, he was glad to have gone back into the building just one more time… the two trips before had seemed thorough enough as he lead person after person out through the remaining exit just before it collapsed; but on the third run, he almost didn't see where the little girl had hidden herself underneath one of the counters to evade the attacking solders outside. She must've gotten trapped by the flames… Goddess he didn't even want to think about what would've happened had he not gone back inside.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he slowly brought himself to a short stop; his body was aching for a break but this was no time to simply sit aside. He watched as the violet-red haired girl rubbed at her eyes in an attempt to get the smoke out from them. Her usually curled pigtails were partly scorching on the tips but otherwise remained in their normal style; the light-green material of her dress had been darkened by the smoke and soot inside while the hem showed signs of burns from where the fire had gathered much too closely to her.

"I think so." She mumbled with a soft nod; her matching violet-red eyes watered slightly as she tried to blink away the would-be tears. "... I want my mom."

He shifted her weight slightly against his arm as he started to put as much distance as he could between them and the burning inn that continued to scorch his back."Don't worry, we'll find her. I promise." He assured, although he hadn't really taken into account as to how much smoke was around them; as to how blind he was in this mess. He felt completely defenseless without his horse and while he had managed to strap his lance behind him so he could free up his hands... it didn't feel like it was doing him any good. As long as he could keep himself out of the enemy's way-

"Amy!"

The call of the name cut clearly through the blinding smoke and caught a hold of his attention; he recognized that voice anywhere and it would come to no surprise that the blonde-haired Mage was located so closely to the inn like this. The burning mess of wood and furniture had once belonged to her...

As tired as he was, he pushed himself to cut a path through the smoke to try and locate the woman; her voice was close, he knew that for sure... it was just a matter of finding her slender form in this chaotic mess around them. The little girl in his arms moved to press more closely against his chest as she tightened her grip on the loosened straps of his uniform; whether or not she had heard the call of her own name from before, she was making sure to keep herself as close to him as she could. The Fire Mage would no doubtingly be a far better choice at protecting the girl- what with her surprisingly vibrant 'motherly instinct' she somehow developed over the years; he needed to get back to his horse and get this clean up mission back on its feet. There was the matter of checking up on the rest of the Royal Knights and making sure the enemy forces had been driven out; there were still plenty of fires to douse and people to rescue... but if he could just reunite one pair...

"Amy!"

The second call was certain to have caught the girl's attention now as she quickly forgot about whatever was going on around them. "Momma!"

It was like the Goddess was cutting him a break this time around as the smoke cleared for a moment, just long enough to reveal where the Mage was frantically trying to figure out where the answered call had come from. He heard a brief chuckle escape from his own chest as he cut a path towards her; making sure to evade the burning beams that had fallen from a collapsed balcony and stretched across the ground like fiery sacrifices. It didn't take long for the Mage to eventually glance momentarily into his direction before a quick double-take had to be completed as the realization came slowly to her. With the effects of the ongoing situation and the rush of emotions that had been plaguing her, he had no doubts that she was probably feeling a little weak in the legs now.

The simple melt of her expression was enough to leave a throbbing feeling in his chest.

She quickly abandoned whatever it was that she had been previously doing and raced towards him; she seemed to be having a much easier time running while he had to settle with moving as quickly as he could. He was half-expecting for some kind of burning structure to fall between them and block their path but gave a mental sigh of relief when nothing like that happened. Hands seemed to grasp out towards one another and he felt the weight of the child move from his arms as the Mage gladly took her back. There was a mix of smiles and tears as the reunited mother and daughter seemed destined to suffocate one another in a shared embrace.

The weight of her daughter in against her arms once more was more than enough relief; and while she wasn't all to partial to crying... it seemed impossible to stop the tears that pushed themselves from her sky-blush eyes. The moment they spotted the smoke and the first time someone shouted 'fire' all she could think about was the little girl. She had arrived all too late to the inn and could only watch as the flames devoured the once beautiful structure from the inside out. But she didn't care for the would-be loss of a home-run inn, or that loss of that new beautiful dining room set she had just purchased... all her mind would focus on was where the girl had gone. None of the choices were good... it was either inside with the flames or outside with the soldiers. But now... now she knew she was safe. Fingers parted slightly as she pushed aside a loose lock of blonde hair and looked up to the blue-haired Commander; black marks scorched across one cheek and his armor showed signs of fresh damages. "Thank you Geoffrey."

He felt a brief smile come to him at the sight of the two but tried not to forget about where they were. It was still a battlefield and there were bound to be soldiers hiding out somewhere around here- soldiers he needed to get rid of. "Don't worry about it, let's just try to-" that former rush of heat that conquered his nerves was suddenly flooded by a cold sensation that seemed to erupt from nowhere.

And yet, dark-blue eyes dropped to see the bloodstained tip of a blade eventually work its way through his open midsection; continuing to move and rip through his body until the silver hilt of the sword had been firmly planted against his back.

Fingertips felt cold before they reached around and slowly unclipped the lance that had been strapped to his lower back; carefully moving the leather straps from their tied positions until they gave away to his motives. The moment the sword tore back out his flesh, he forced himself against the pain and turned around at the same time he freed his weapon; swinging the lance out around him, he forced the tip of it into the soldier's neck. He was able to strike with enough force to nearly decapitate the man as the silver tip of his lance made easy work of the vulnerable skin; shredding it completely open and throwing the body to the ground in a bloodied mess of open tissue and spewing jugulars. The surprised body hit the floor in a mix of confused gurgles and violent convulsions before death gave him the right to stillness.

Everything had happened so fast... he wasn't entirely sure he comprehended it correctly.

One hand moved to touch against his unguarded midsection and he felt the warmth of blood almost immediately rush between his open fingers. Pressing against the open injury, he felt his own flesh throbbing as the impalement wound ripped perfectly through his back and out his chest- seemingly hitting everything in-between. How did his guard drop like that? How could he have missed someone following him? Even with the smoke… he should've been able to hear the footsteps; he should've known better than to simply toss the battlefield aside and assume they were cleared of enemy forces. They had probably been using the smoke and panic as a cloak to hide themselves and evade capture for this long.

He had just allowed for himself to get caught up in the moment… this was the price for doing so.

"Oh my Goddess…"

Her voice was faint and seemingly breathless behind him, reminding him that he wasn't entirely to his thoughts right now. The touch of metallic blood in the back of his throat forced him to push it back as he glanced over one shoulder to the woman; she kept one hand on the back of his daughter's head to keep her from witnessing the sight. He had no doubt that his back was imitating the same injury as his midsection was; he could feel the same crimson liquid soaking through the material and touching at his skin. "It's fine… don't worry about it…"

She didn't believe him for one minute- it was impossible to after witnessing the ambushed attack. She... she didn't even see the swordsman- but she should've; she should've been able to warn the Commander or at least been able to take out the attacker before he could inflict this kind of damage. But she didn't see him and was thus ineffective in trying to protect him. After he rescued her daughter, it would seem the least she could've done was that. "You're bleeding."

"Get Amy and yourself out of here." he replied instead; it felt like his fingertips were turning numb as they struggled to keep a hold on his lance. "If you run into any civilians on the way, take them with you. I... I have to clear out the city..."

"You can't do that in your condition-"

"Calill, please... that's an order."

For the love of the- he wasn't actually trying to pull that on her, was he? Pushing herself to her feet, she cradled Amy against her and watched as he had already started off on his own path. She couldn't even understand how he was still breathing with that kind of injury, let alone expect to move so greatly with it or even fight with it... He was going to get himself killed- something she couldn't allow for him to do. But... but he was right that she needed to get Amy out of here; she didn't belong in this situation- she had already suffered enough without her. It was one of those conflicting choices situations now. The answer seemed obvious enough but the other choice was just as tempting for all the right reasons.

Maybe if she could get Amy out to safety, then she could come back and assist the Commander as best she could; or at least alert one of the others about his injury.

Goddess pray, she hated herself for it but she turned in the other direction and hurried along the smokey path behind her; carrying herself as quickly as her bold heels would allow for her to and keeping her daughter as tightly pressed to her chest as she could.

He was partly thankful he didn't hear a response or even hear a set of footsteps echoing his own. He knew she would make the choice to get her daughter to safety first... that's why he threw it out there; it was the only way to get her to go through with his order. And while she had good intentions of wanting to stay, he didn't want to risk it. His injury was a through and through but it wasn't that serious, it didn't hit any vital organs as far as he knew and he could still breathe with it- it was painful to do so, but he could do it. His movements were slower but he still pressed his way through the city as best he could; avoiding the thick fires that parading around him.

Every passing moment made it feel as though he was about to pass out…

But he had to complete his mission first and then he could rest in a pool of his own blood if he so wished.

His mount wasn't all too difficult to find even in the midst of the smoke and chaos; the horse seemed to have been searching for him just the same and came rushing across the open streets to him. The snapped length of rope that hung down around the stallion's neck said that he didn't really appreciate being tied up at a safe distance away from the fires. He patted the horse's snout and neck and felt the brief places where it's hair had been partly burned from a few close encounters. It was a slightly more difficult task of getting into the saddle now and he was almost certain he ripped his injury open even more. Blood continued to push through his open fingers as he tried to keep a tight hand pressed against the gaping wound; he tried to convince himself again and again that it wasn't as bad as it felt... but there was that small sense of reasonable thought in the back of his mind that said otherwise. It was the blood loss that worried him the most. The pain was beginning to die down as adrenaline took over and restored his focus on the matter at hand.

Judging from the different colored smoke clouds in the distance, Astrid and Makalov were achieving some success in extinguishing the fires; the screaming had died down just as well... he was hoping it was more for the fact that most of the civilians had been evacuated. A brief shout in the distance brought his attention to someone else as another figure moved quickly through the smoke; a mounted soldier leaping over short burning structures in an attempt to get somewhere quick.

"Commander Geoffrey!"

He knew that voice from anywhere. "Kieran. Did you and Marcia chase off the rest of the Begnion forces?"

The red-headed man had a clean expression on his face as he drew closer; his matching red armor showed brief signs of damage from a struggled encounter or two. "We forced out a majority of their soldiers but I think their fraction broke up during the chase- a few of them are still inside the city-"

"I know." he quickly interrupted. "I've already eliminated one of them. I'll take another run through the city and see if there's any more of the them hiding; you and Marcia go help out Astrid and Makalov with these fires- and if you see Danved, get him to help just the same."

"Are you sure you don't need any assistance in the matter?"

"I'm fine... just get these fires under control while we can still salvage the city." Geoffrey remarked; watching as the Second in Command quickly nodded before he took off back into the smoke- eventually disappearing into the burning city. In all honesty, he was lucky to have gotten out of the short encounter without the other man noticing his injury; the front of his uniform was slowly being stained by the running blood... He guessed the mask of smoke and panic of fire was enough of a distraction- something that was actually working with him for once.

A quick run around the city perimeter turned up nothing suspicious that might've dressed itself in Begnion's colors. After he was certain the outside of the city was safe, he dove in through the smoke and risked the burning flames all over again. Galloping through the streets, he kept a sharp eye for any kind of movement while trying to ignore how every bump and unsteady leap wrecked his entire body with pain. There was a total of two or three incidents in which he had to draw out his lance and take out a hiding soldier; feeling the painful shock that vibrated through his body with every solid hit. As far as he could tell, the city appeared cleared out for now... there seemed no other reason for soldiers to be here any longer.

At least that was one mess they got out of the way.

Now just to deal with the fires and the civilians.

* * *

><p>Amy was safe now; she was with a group of well-known patrons who were standing just outside of the city. There were a few children out there as well, so she wouldn't be alone and they could attempt some way of play despite the mess.<p>

She rushed back into the city as soon as the girl assured her that she would be fine until her return. The rest of the Royal Knights were easy to spot in the decorative armor while reinforcements were just now arriving; she would've cursed them for their ill-timing if she wasn't more worried for the Commander at this point. It was a working process with how every member was gathering water from the nearby pumps and throwing bucket after bucket onto the fire. Some houses were easier than others to extinguish but they were making progress on it... that was what mattered most right now.

"Ah, Calill, good thing you showed up. We need someone else to work the pumps." Marcia started as she forced herself to lift another heavy bucket without spilling the water all over herself instead.

"I'll help as soon as I can but where's Geoffrey?" she questioned instead; trying to avoid getting in the way of the other knights who were rushing back and forth all over the place.

"The Commander's doing one more run-through on the city to make sure there aren't any remaining Begnion soldiers." Kieran answered; grabbing the full bucket from Marcia's hand before he passed it off to the next person in line. "Have all the civilians been evacuated?"

"Yes, Danved is seeing to their comfort right now, but I need to find the Commander. Right now."

"Why? Is there something wrong?" Marcia asked, her expression turning serious for a moment as she slowed down the pumping process for now. "Did we miss out on something?"

She tried really hard not to let her temper get the best of her. "Have you even see him recently?"

"I saw him a few moments ago..." Kieran started.

"And you didn't see all the blood? He was -" she stopped for a moment at the sound of an approaching horse and looked up in time to see the blue-haired Commander just now returning and emerging out of the nearby smoke pillars. She felt that she had to be thankful that some kind of fate was working with them for once and playing time on their side. His face was covered in sweat and it was easy to tell the difficulty he had in breathing at this point. It would've been easy to blame it all on the fire and smoke for his sudden drop in demeanor but... she knew about the wound when no one else did. "Commander!"

He glanced up briefly at the call and she could see how badly the wound was treating him at this point. It was a slur of mental curses as to why they would even enter an engagement like this without bringing a healer with them. His horse had been slowed to a more steady gait as he closed the distance between them. "I cleared out the remaining Begnion soldiers that stayed behind- the city should be safe with the exception of the fires... How's the process with getting them taken care of going?"

"We've got most of the outer houses extinguished but reinforcements have just arrived as well." Kieran reported. "I sent them to the other end of city to start on the businesses- I don't think we'll be able to salvage much from the middle streets though. The fires are too intense in those areas."

"Alright... and the civilians are safe, correct?"

"Yes sir, Calill and Danved have managed to evacuate everyone to the outskirts." Marcia nodded. "We sent a note back for more reinforcements to bring the civilians some supplies for the night."

"That's good..." he started; stepping back for a moment to see how the overall process was carrying on. So far so good with the constant movements down the organized lines as every soldier was working to get the fires put down. For once, it seemed like things were working with them; the morning had started off badly enough with the Begnion forces seemingly ambushing their cities and now this... but at least it was all turning around. "I'm going to go back to the castle and look over the preparations there; can I trust that you'll keep this movement going, Kieran?"

"On my life, Commander."

"I'll accompany you." Calill quickly intersected. "I don't think a Fire Mage is going to be all too helpful in this kind of situation."

He showed a brief sign of hesitation but seemed reluctant to agree. "If you're able to keep up with me, then you have all rights to accompany; I'll need someone who knows these civilians personally to know what supplies to gather."

"Don't worry about me keeping up, I'm sure no one's going to notice if I borrow one of the horses that have been running amuck." she assured.

Just as she thought, it was easy to rope one of the brown stallions that had been freed from their stables; it only took a few calming brushes before it let her saddle it up and grab a hold of the reigns. She wasn't exactly the best at riding but it was much easier to travel around the city with a horse now and again; although she didn't usually travel all that much either- to put simply, she knew how to ride a horse when it was needed. And right now, she was partly thankful she had decided to pick up a lesson or two when they had been available to her. While she thought horses were rather smelly and unclean creatures... they did hold a sense of majestic flow with them; she used to think it was so amazing with how the Paladin fighters raced into battle on horseback with little regard to their own safety. They were the front men and the ones who usually broke through the enemy lines first.

She always thought the Commander made a suiting Paladin Knight; it was, what one could describe as, dreamy whenever he came rushing through- leading the Royal Knights close behind him. That sense of honor and fearlessness that coated his armor and the tip of his sharpened lances. She supposed that was why she always found him to be so attractive.

She watched as he kept a collective manner as they left a few parting words with the others just before their departure, but as soon as they were out of eyesight, it all seemed to slowly break apart. It was easy to see the toll the injury was taking on him as he moved one hand to cover his mouth when a heavy collection of coughs tore at his chest. His fingers and lips were blood-stained when they separated but he merely wiped the blood aside and seemed to disregard it overall. It was breaking him down piece by piece but his resistance was desperate in refusing to show the full extent of how the injury affected him.

"Please tell me when you offered to go back to the castle and over look the activities there... that you're really going to get a healer or two."

There was a brief moment of silence on his part as he tried to regain a steady breathing pattern again. "You have to understand something, Calill... A Commander cannot risk showing weakness on the battlefield, even if he is injured well beyond repair. He can't risk letting his troops see him in any kind of weakened condition; he has to give them the impression that the battle is theirs to win. It doesn't matter how much blood I've lost already or the pain, I have to set it aside and continue on with that imagery. This was a simple battle at the end, despite the overwhelming damages... this kind of injury is amateur on my part." one hand moved to push aside his wet bangs and clear them from his eyesight. "They won't notice my elongated absence until they return later on this evening; it's the perfect cover up."

"And what will they do when they realized that you've been injured this entire time?"

"It doesn't matter. The task at hand will already have been completed by that point."

It took a few seconds before she let a slight smile pass on to her lips. "You never told me how intelligent yet cunning you were, Sir Geoffrey. You would put most of our spies to shame."

"It's all a part of taking the job, Lady Calill." he chuckled lightly. "I hope my slower pace won't be a bother to you."

"Nonsense, this is the least I could do for you." she started before her eyes slowly moved to the partly charred material on his right arm; the fabric had been blackened and burned away to reveal a darker mess underneath it. Although, with the hinted clues of red stains against the remaining sleeve, she realized that the 'darker mess' was actually his arm instead. The flesh had been seared down to what looked to be the muscle before blood dried a protective layer over the injury. "My Goddess... what happened to your arm?"

He barely gave it a glance as though he already knew the wound well enough to not spare another look at it. "It happened when I was running through some of the buildings and trying to evacuate people. I got myself trapped in a confined area and burned myself pretty bad; it's not as serious as it looks though, I assure you."

"This isn't just another one of your strong fronts, is it?"

"You're still a part of my team, Calill, and I've broken my image plenty enough in front of you."


	2. Chapter 2

Needless to say, no one seemed the least bit thrilled about his injury overall.

Not to say that there was really anything to be thrilled about it in the first place. By the time the two of them had arrived back at the castle, he had lost enough blood that he could barely keep a solid train of thought; when the question of how the injury occurred in the first place, all he really remember was a slur of words that were suppose to serve as an answer. It was absolutely terrible. He could barely get his armor off and there were people who wanted to get all over his case about the whole matter- like that was what he really wanted to talk about at that time.

He supposed he should've been thankful that Lady Calill had accompanied him, seeing as she offered to give the answers that she knew of that regarded his injuries. It helped with getting a few people off his back but there were those who refused to be tested as such.

"You just about got yourself killed out there today."

A brief sigh escaped from his lips as fingers moved to pinch at the empty space between his eyes; he didn't really need to listen to his sister's voice right now. He knew she meant well but... he didn't need to be reminded of it. His chest was bound tightly with a thick roll of gauze that made it even harder for him to breathe; every needed inhale felt like it was constricted and repressed into a shorter motion that barely drew in enough air into his lungs. Another, different type of binding had been wrapped around his right arm and its strong hold made it feel nearly immobilized. An orange, paste-like ointment pushed out from underneath the wrappings and carried a terrible scent with it- he figured it was for the burns seeing how the paste felt as though it had numbed his flesh instead.

"I'm very aware of that, Lucia." he started; moving his fingertips to press into one temple next as a headache began to ring in the back of his head. "I mean, I was there."

The obvious downturn at the corner of her lips said she wasn't the least bit amused by the answer but didn't want to say anything further. Her arms were tightly crossed over her chest, which was one sign that she irritated by something or someone; it was a motion she usually carried when Bastian was around. Her chopped off locks had been recut to appear more evenly styled as they bounced lightly at the curve of her jawline. She didn't seem all too bothered by the sudden haircut and remarked that it might've been for the best anyways; her longer locks had gotten into her way sometimes when in the midst of a battle or swing. Eventually, her stiff expression softened and her arms slowly returned to her side. "... You had Elincia worried sick about you."

He hadn't really considered taking in the Queen's view on the matter... "Well tell her I send my apologies… I let myself get caught off-guard."

"Well, I trust that you were busy evacuating the civilians and with all the smoke, it would've been difficult to see someone sneaking up on you." Lucia offered as she eventually moved one hand to balance on her hip instead. "Not to mention, without your horse, you're pretty much defenseless."

"Oh ha ha."

She chuckled briefly at his sarcastic remark and watched as he touched at his arm once more; she knew from experience that the burn ointment the healers created felt more irritating than anything else. It always felt like it did more damage than good but, just from experience, she knew it worked surprisingly well. "Hopefully we won't be expecting any kind of engagement any time soon- although, knowing our luck so far, someone's going to be at our borders soon enough; you're going to need a few days of rest before you can get back out on the field- Healers' orders."

"If I recall correctly, the healer's also ordered for you to keep in bed for awhile after the whole mess with Ludveck but you acted like you didn't hear a word from them." Geoffrey remarked.

"Yeah but I wasn't stabbing in a vital area during that whole encounter." she reminded.

Okay, she had a point.

But he really wasn't looking forward to bed rest for two or three days; maybe a day at most but after that he usually got bored and gave up on the orders. The healers also said the wound healed easily enough and gave them no problems... so it would seem as though it wasn't all too serious. Although, in reality, it easily could've been dangerous had the attack been aimed lower to strike vital organs instead of just beneath his ribcage. "Alright... fine." he admitted. "But I need you to step in and make sure the civilians will be taken care of-"

"I've already dispatched some guards to keep post overnight and keep an eye out for Begnion soldiers just in case they're stupid enough to show up again. The supplies have been handed out and we've ordered in some lumber from Gallia to start rebuilding the damaged houses and property buildings. It's going to take some time but things will get put back in place sure enough- and hopefully not get burned down again."

"I guess we can only hope for that one." he nodded briefly. "That reminds me, if you see Calill somewhere on your way out, can you ask and see if her daughter Amy is alright?"

"Sure... but on one condition."

He tested himself on whether or not he wanted to know what she wanted from him; it was a difficult choice just the same... she wasn't a merciful one when it came down to these 'conditions' and such. "On second thought, I'll just ask her in a few days."

Lucia laughed lightly at her brother's hesitation before she moved to tuck away a straying piece of hair. "Come on, it's simple enough. All I want to know is... what exactly is going on between you two? I mean, beforehand it just seemed like her flirting around you but now... I don't know, she seems to have calm down quite a bit; she's not as extravagant with her greetings or with her praises for you."

"It's nothing, Lucia." he answered quickly, finding out soon enough that his hasty words didn't seem to help him all too much. "Look, her husband died a few years ago in an accident; she's managing both a bar and an inn, as well as the little girl the two of them had adopted together. I just... I want to offer help where I can. That look on her face when she thought Amy was trapped in that burning building was horrifying to see..." Oh Goddess, she wasn't going to let him down for this one. "Now can you go see if she's alright for me?"

"Sure thing." she nodded faintly, not surprised by her brother's words; she remembered that he passed on his happiness when the wedding invitations had been sent out but... it was also easy to see how disappointed he seemed in it just the same. He always appeared buried in his work that it didn't seem like something like that would bother him for very long, but it did. She never let it on that she was aware of it and always played along with his game. This just seemed like one of those moments where she would play dumb and let him keep the ordeal to himself. "I'll be sure to keep an eye on the other Royal Knights- especially Kieran."

"I gave up on that a long time ago." he remarked with a faint chuckle. "There's no saving the man."

"Well then, in that case, I won't take responsibility for whatever might happen to him during your absence." Lucia spoke as she started to turn to leave. "I'll pass your bill of healthy recovery on to Elincia and tell her not to worry; we'll be praying to the Goddess for some hope that Begnion will keep us out of its war for now."

They would need a lot more than prayers to do that.

* * *

><p>One by one, soldier by soldier, the Royal Knights slowly began to return back to the castle.<p>

She had questioned both Marcia and Astrid about it and they both confirmed that the fires had been put out; the rest of their forces were busy salvaging what they could before they would set up a temporary camp for the displaced civilians. While she trusted their words, she still preferred to have a look see for herself and go over the damages. It meant she'd have to get back on a horse but she could follow the next call of reinforcements out and make sure the supplies were properly distributed. The soldiers carried on their own bits of conversations while she felt as though she was being more reserved to herself for some odd reason. She supposed it was just her worry for Amy; she promised she would be back as soon as she could but... it felt as though that had been spoken hours ago. The little girl was probably worried sick about it.

And of course... there was that matter with the Commander as well.

She watched as his condition quickly deteriorated with every step closer to the castle; she cursed her womanly panic for thinking that he wasn't going to make it at some points, only to have him pull through and regain his strength for a few more moments. Most of the injury seemed based on blood lost and tissue damage but... she had overheard a few of the healers remark that it was a fairly simple injury to heal- which was a relief to hear. She would have to make time soon enough to go visit him when he was well enough to have company; it didn't feel as though she had thanked him properly for saving Amy. Yeah, she had spoken the words but... they seemed little compared to him rushing into a burning building to retrieve her... and then getting stabbed later on during their exchange.

Such a brave, handsome Commander needed more than just a few simple words of thanks.

The sight of the brittle, broken and blackened support beams in front of her confirmed the one thing she was certain of. Glass windows had long since exploded and turned to ash as bare empty frames remained in a half-pledged memorial; a few pieces of furniture kept hold onto the frames of their former luxuries as they laid in scattered, displaced fashions. Those beautiful drapes she had nearly died over when they finally came in were no longer visible- lost somewhere under the eager tongues of the flames. It was a dreary, hated sight but... there was a lot more that could've been lost; a lot more that couldn't have been rebuilt and replaced.

"I guess it's no surprise as to why you're back here."

The voice called for her attention as she stepped back to look behind her for the given moment; watching as the blue-haired Sword wielder carefully made her way through the torn up street and stepped over the fallen debris. It was certainly easy to see why most of the men in this country swooned and swayed over her- she did have quite the gifted figure and the talents with a sword was something to boot along with her looks. But she was also the sister of the Commander... which only proved that good looks simply ran in their family.

A light smile played on her brightly-colored lips in greeting. "Lucia... well I guess I could say the same to you just as well. I figured on my way back it wouldn't hurt to... survey the damages."

"Yeah, with Geoffrey out of the picture, I'm having to fill in his post for now." she remarked lightly enough. "How is everything here?"

"Ah well..." Calill started as she turned back to the burnt mess behind her. "The inn is gone; there's no way we could save it from this mess."

Lucia frowned slightly as she took note of the crippled building in front of her now. It used to be such a beautiful establishment and she remembered the satin pillows well... they were always her favorite part whenever the team had to stay the night. It was difficult to see it in its condition now. "I'm sorry. If it's any consolation we should be getting new lumber in by next week, so repairs should start then."

"That sounds like a spot of good news for once." she nodded. "I'll just build it bigger and better than before. I should probably start putting out new orders for furniture and drapes then... I'll have to think of a new theme- you know I was planning on redecorating anyways, so I guess you could say this actually helped me out. Thankfully the bar is still salvageable or else that would've just ruined busy in this city overall. I'll just have to replace a few walls and repaint but it should be good as new soon enough. I might have to replace the liquor though, no one likes a hot drink."

"It's good to see this whole matter hasn't slowed you down in the least bit." Lucia chuckled, already seeing the expression on the Sage's face change from classified to something more cheery as though she was already redesigning the building in the back of her head. "Oh, before I forget, I was told to pass on a question from Commander Geoffrey."

"Is that so?" Calill questioned; fingertips toying with her lower lip for a moment. "Well what did he want to know?"

"He wanted to know if Amy was alright. He seemed to be quite worried about her well-being; I thought it wouldn't hurt to ride out here and make sure he got his answer as soon as possible. Goddess knows he'd probably come out and ask himself if I didn't set up a few guards to keep him stationed in his room." she answered.

Actually, she probably wouldn't have minded if the Commander wanted to come out here himself- oh, what was she thinking? He was just now recovering from a serious injury, he needed his rest. "I was just about to go check up on her, you're welcome to join me and see for yourself if you wish." she offered, eventually stepping away from the ruins of her former inn as she started in the direction to where the civilians were staying on the outskirts of the city. "She's probably still a little shaken from the whole matter."

"I'm honestly surprised we managed to escape this situation with no causalities." Lucia commented as she slowly started after the woman, eventually matching pace at her side as she followed her along the wrecked street underfoot. "I haven't gotten a chance to overlook the matter just yet but I brought a few healers along with me just in case. Hopefully they're already with the civilians and hadn't gotten lost somewhere along the way."

"I think we would've suffered a few deaths had the Royal Knights not be so quick to react." Calill noted. "We're thankful for that."

"They've really been pushing themselves lately, what with the rebellion and now Begnion breathing down our necks... I tell you, I think Geoffrey's going to give himself a heart attack with all the worrying he's been doing. But he has good reason to." she added. "All we can do is take it day by day though and make sure incidents like these don't evade our grasp."

That seemed true enough.

How much longer were they going to be able to take on Begnion's forces? With the men they had now... it didn't seem like they would be lasting all too long. Then again, with the recent appearance of the Greil's Mercenaries and their rescue of Lucia herself, things seemed as though they would soon be looking up. Maybe then situations like these would be few and far between, or better yet, non existing.

"We should be thanking you just as well. We need as much help as we can get these days."

"Oh don't worry about it." Calill assured as she moved to brush aside a loose blonde bang; tucking it behind one ear. "You should consider yourselves lucky for having a World-Class Sage on your team; not everyone gets to hold the bragging rights to that."

A light sense of laughter left the Swordswoman as she merely shook her head. "I suppose you do have a point."

It didn't take them all that long to get to the outskirts of the city and find where a few of the reinforcements were already setting up tents to serve as a temporary base for the civilians. White-robed healers went from group to group and tended to the wounded, although most of the injuries appeared to be either burns or minor scraps and cuts. There were a few groups of men who were assisting the soldiers while mothers tended to their young children and tried to keep them calm during the ongoing set up around them; a few of the older children found different ways to entertain themselves as they raced back and forth across an empty part of the open fields. Just a few hours before, everyone was running around and screaming as fires raged around them and now... well, at least everyone seemed to have found a small piece of solace to hold on to. That was more than enough to ask for.

It was much easier for the little girl to find her rather than for her to call out or go from group to group.

It only took a few brief seconds before she watched as the pigtailed girl bounced her way over to her.

"I told you I'd be back soon enough." Calill smiled as she stooped down just enough to pick the girl up into her arms; feeling the way the child eagerly threw her own arms around her neck. "Are you alright? How is everything going around here? Smooth as pine needles?"

"Yeah, the soldiers showed up a few minutes ago and started putting tents up; a few of them were saying some funny things when they got the instructions mixed up." Amy recalled.

"Ha, well that does sound like them... let's just make sure we don't repeat anything we heard, alright?" she chuckled quietly before she turned back to the blue-haired woman just a few steps away from them. "You can tell Sir Geoffrey that she's doing just fine, although her hair may be a little burned here or there she'll be okay."

Lucia nodded and smiled briefly as she watched the girl seemingly bury herself into the other woman in pure joy at their reunion. "I'll be sure to pass the news on, I'm sure he'll be happy to hear about it-"

"Lady Lucia!" the interrupting call was soon to be identified as the familiar red-haired Paladin hurried over to where they stood. His face was covered in beads of sweat but he barely seemed to notice the matter, as though the extended fight to put up tents did little to damper his stamina. One would think after a brief encounter in a fire-takened city where he had to fight soldiers and then was expected to extinguish houses and now put up tents... that it would at least break a little bit of concentration. Not for him though. "I'm certain you're busy at the moment but I must ask, where is the Commander? His elongated absence is noted."

"Geoffrey is... out of commission right now; I'll be replacing him just for the moment in overlooking this matter." Lucia answered. "Is there anything you need help with or anything wrong with the supplies we brought back with us?"

Whether or not the answer gave him much of what he wanted, he seemed to have tossed it all aside regardless. "We're going to need a few more tents as well as a couple of more soldiers; a few of the civilians have offered their assistance but if we wish to be done before dark then we're going to need some more hands."

"I doubt that we'll be able to finish before dark but I'll see if I can't get a hold of a few more soldiers. We just sent a team of them back to the castle so their replacements should be coming along soon enough." she started. "Which reminds me, why are you still here, Kieran? The rest of the party is back at the castle recovering; these new regiments should be enough to take care of this matter."

"Nonsense. Commander Geoffrey asked for me to remain here until this whole operation was under control and I am seeing this matter to the end. Second-in-Command bows down to nothing."

"Alright... well then, I'll be sure to tell Geoffrey that you're keeping your word to him; I'm sure he'll be happy to hear it." Lucia nodded before she watched as the man responded to a call of his name elsewhere. A heavy sigh escaped her as she moved her hands to her hips. "I don't think we've ever moved so many soldiers back and forth from one location to the next in such a little timespan. We'll be paying overtime for this one but it'll be worth it... plus it prolongs me having to tell Kieran what really happened to Geoffrey."

"That bad, huh?" Calill questioned.

"Oh well you know how Kieran can be... dramatic."

"Momma, what happened to Sir Geoffrey anyways?" Amy asked in short response once their conversation had ended; she pulled herself out of the soft material of her cape that draped heavily around her neck.

She took a moment to try and formulate an appropriate answer for the girl and briefly glanced over to the blue-haired woman for some kind of support. "Well, Amy, he had to go back and tend to things at the palace; Queen Elincia is probably expecting a lot of reports on this whole mess and he's the one responsible for them. He's just doing what his job asks him to do. Don't worry though, he'll be back soon enough."

"Can I see him soon?"

"Uh well... that's up to him, sweetheart; we'll have to see if he has free time soon enough before his next departure." The answer was deemed good enough for the girl as she eventually made the motion to get back to her feet before she took off to join in a game with some of the older children. A brief sigh escaped heavily from her lips as she moved fingertips to touch at her temple; she had a feeling the girl was going to be keeping up with that request at every given moment. "It's hard to believe just a few hours ago everything was so normal."

"I know the feeling and it's a strange one." Lucia agreed. "You know, I may be stepping over my boundaries here a little bit but... if you want, you can bring Amy by in a day or so and let her see him. He should be fine enough by that point and, if he chooses to disobey the healer's orders, he'll probably be walking around just as well. He seemed just as worried about her as she is about him."

"I think... that would be wonderful."


	3. Chapter 3

Things seemed so far so good with the city.

Kieran had kept his promise about keeping a close eye over the city and the civilians, almost refusing to return to the castle until everything had been covered. He was pretty certain that Lucia had forced him back with her from their last visit; she probably threatened some kind of physical violence or disappointment should he not come back.

Somehow, someway, between the guards, the healers, Lucia and Calill, no one else found out about his injury; the other Royal Guards came in too late that night to even question his lingering absence. By the time the next morning came along, Kieran had already left and the others were too busy with supply runs to notice. Personally, he was surprised they were that easily tricked but... he also had a feeling some of them already knew about it and just chose to remain stupid on the matter. Either way, no one was upset and things were getting back together.

That first night didn't yield all too much sleep his way and he found himself suffering more from a brief stint of restlessness and insomnia. But with the guards posted just outside his door, he wasn't exactly allowed to walk the castle grounds to try and distill the feeling. The next morning gave him a little more leeway considering Lucia was out and the number of guards had been pulled thin; giving him the opportunity to leave his room when no one was watching. It probably wasn't the best for the still raw healing, but he couldn't just sit around in bed all day when mayhem was playing on their country's borders. Who knew when the next attack was going to rear its ugly head and dominate their weakened forces... there were things that needed to be put together and information to find out.

He spent most of that morning catching himself up on things that had gone on after his absence from the field yesterday. Marcia and Astrid were able to tell him about the condition of the civilians from the night before, while Makalov told him of Lucia's plans for the current day. He reassured himself that Lucia would certainly know what she was doing by now and would no doubt be positive that she was doing a far better job than he ever could. But, with her out at the city most of the day, he could move around however he pleased without having to hear of her objections every few minutes. His midsection was still sore and he couldn't necessarily bend it but as long as he avoided any heavy lifting, he should be okay.

Fingers flipped through the newest report that had been passed along to him from the latest regiment who were returning from the city. It listed out the supplies that had been taken and the ones that were still in need... there were a few mixed signatures at the bottom to certify the notes; Lucia's had been neatly scribbled in one corner while Kieran's took up the rest of the page. Seemed typical enough though.

"Commander!"

Aw shit... he mentally cursed to himself just before he set the papers aside and turned to see who had called for him. There was a sense of relief to see that it was only Marcia and Astrid instead of Lucia- who he had first thought it was. "Is there something I can help you two with?"

"We were about to make a run to the city again to bring the soldiers some lunch, but we thought we'd check in with you and see if there was anything you wanted us to take down there." Marcia answered as one hand moved to ruffle through her pink locks. "Or if there were any commands you wanted us to pass on."

"Uh... none that I can think of right now." he started. "If you do run into Lucia though, tell her that I want to speak with her as soon as she gets back; also tell Kieran that he's more than welcomed to take a break if he wants. I'm trying to get things solid on this side, so there shouldn't be all too much to worry about for now."

"Will do, but there's no promises on Kieran... you know how he can be." Marcia replied with a soft roll of her eyes. "I might be able to convince him one way or another... but again, it won't be ethical on my part."

"I told you all you have to do is offer to take him out on a date." Astrid commented before she carefully stepped out of the way of the side swing the Pegasus Knight attempted. "Anyways, we'll be sure to pass the message on to Lucia for you."

"Thanks and just be careful out there; I don't think Begnion would be stupid enough to try and strike us again, but at this point anything could be possible." he suggested with a brief sigh.

"Oh, don't worry about us, I think we'll be okay." Marcia assured. "Now then, if you'll excuse us, we'll be on our way." she was in mid-turn to continue back down the corridor before she stopped herself halfway through her steps. "You know what actually, Calill was going to be dropping by later on this morning as well; you could probably get some answers from her- those reports don't go near in-depth to provide any kind of useful information."

He tried not to think how nice it would be to see the Fire Sage again... in terms of just making sure she was okay, that is; at least, that was his excuse if anyone asked otherwise. "I'll be sure to keep an eye out for her and get some more information on this whole case. I hate to think that we'll have to start preparing to leave in a few days, which means we'll have to leave the city the way it is like this behind us."

"It's better than having all of Crimea burn down, right?" the pink-haired woman reminded. "There will be plenty of people staying behind to clear things up, don't worry. Pretty soon, it'll be like none of this even happened in the first place."

The Pegasus Knight had a point and he watched as she finally got around to turning back down the corridor to head on out; the black-haired Archer lingering close behind her. Sighing again, he looked over at the seemingly meaningless report close to him but decided that a second look wasn't worth his time. If he could get someone to give him some real details on the matter then he'd rather take that over anything else. The fact that he'd had to speak with Calill about it... well that was just a coincidence he was probably going to be looking forward to.

Of course, now he figured he should be focusing more on the bigger picture here. The fires were still recent, he still had the scent of smoke caught in his clothing and in his hair, but that didn't change the current facts that were still present. Begnion ruptured their borders and caught them off-guard... with all the hostilities going on between them and Daein, it was only a matter of time before Crimea was dragged into it. And as hard as they were trying to say neutral on the fight, it was getting increasingly difficult to do so. They wanted to stay out of the ongoing war but they also wanted to keep their sovereignty, which Begnion seemed to mere mock them for; what kind of power did a country have if they refused to defend themselves? It was like they were getting baited into this whole matter and soon enough, they were going to have to go for the line. He wasn't sure how much longer he could withstand the taunts and ambushes like this... but it was Queen Elincia's order and her passion to keep Crimea safe from the ongoing battles; he wouldn't go against her unless she changed her stance on the matter.

So, until then, they were to at least hold down the borders and keep things from getting out of control... right.

Because that was working out so well for them so far.

Goddess pray, he should really stop thinking like that.

* * *

><p>"Are you sure he'll be well enough?"<p>

Lucia shrugged lightly in answer and watched as the small pigtailed girl took off ahead of them, completely lost in curiosity with the large castle setting around them. Yeah, she had promised the girl that she'd be able to see the Commander in a few days but... well they were both coming back to the castle anyways, it was easy to just cut the time a bit. She had no doubts that her brother was already bored with the given request for bed rest, if he was anything like her, then he was probably already up and about. It was probably a bad idea to have left this morning and leave him under the supervision of the guards, but she couldn't really let Kieran handle anything; if they did that, there would probably just be a bigger fire for them to deal with.

It was more than likely unrelated but she noticed that the blonde-haired Sage seemed worried for his well-being but gave no sense of hesitation when asked to come back to the castle; she seemed all the more eager to go in fact.

"Oh don't worry, knowing Geoffrey he's just fine." she offered. "And also knowing him, he's probably going to try and avoid me... but I know these games; I practically invented them."

Calill chuckled lightly at the remark and moved her fingertips to brush a few blonde strands from her face. "That does sound like something he would do. I don't know, I guess I figured after such a serious injury that he would've preferred to keep his activity on the low down."

"Well he at least has the smarts to keep off the field for awhile... at least until we have to go out on the road."

"Do you think we'll have to?"

"Seeing how recent events are going so far, it seems believable." Lucia nodded before she glanced over at the woman. "And what do you mean by 'we?'"

She looked back to the blue-haired woman as though the question was one of the strangest things to ask. "You don't seriously think I wouldn't get involved with this, do you? Please. You guys need a World Class Sage on your side in order to get anywhere against Begnion; I'm the only one who can help you guys."

"Queen Elinica prefers that civilians don't get involved-"

"Oh don't worry about that, she gave me special privileges with that one. In fact, it was probably after the whole ordeal with Ludveck that she decided to give that one out- after I offered to host a party of course. Come to think of it, we never did go through with the arrangements for that, and seeing how the inn isn't exactly in the best shape right now, we'll probably have to keep it postponed." Calill started as she paused in thought for a moment. "Oh well, I suppose we can wait until the war is over, hopefully the inn will be refurnished by then."

Shaking her head, she looked up as a few of the guards were preparing to deploy again; leaving one of the supply doorways propped open as a few of them continued to run back in and out through it. It didn't take the smaller child to duck through the crowd as she quickly ran in through the opened doors, almost disappearing from sight. "You're not worried about leaving Amy behind?"

"It does seem like an irresponsible thing to do, doesn't it?" Calill sighed. "But, I have a few loose relatives in the next city over who offered to look after her; some friends here as well, after all I'm going to need someone to look after the bar and inn while I'm gone. Believe it or not, I've already talked to her about it and she seems accepting enough. Actually, the funniest thing, she told me to go for it and to make sure that the men who burned the city and hurt Sir Geoffrey 'paid' for it. I feel a little better about the decision when I tell myself that I'm doing it to keep her safe, that in a sense I'm protecting her from a distance. It helps me keep a small bit of my sanity."

It was a brief chuckle that escaped her now as they pushed through the small crowd of disbanding soldiers and worked their way through the slightly crowded doorway; making small progress on catching up to Amy. "I'll be the first to admit, Calill, you were the last person I ever imagined who would have a heart for a child. I guess I just didn't see it in your character but I'm glad you proved me wrong on that."

"Funny you should bring that up, because you're still the last person I imagine to have a child- what with Sir Bastian always out of the country-" she started.

"Oh don't even finish that." Lucia interrupted with a brief, yet amused tone. "Sir Bastian and I are... no where close to that level in a relationship- a term I use very, very loosely, might I add."

"Yes, because all of Crimea would believe that." she chuckled as she stepped out of the woman's range for safety reasons. She looked back up to where her daughter was going from one wall decoration to the next, staring wide-eyed and gaped mouth at all the paintings before her attention snapped to the next best thing. It had been quite some time since she had last seen the girl so thrilled and excited about something- just mentioning a visit to the palace nearly put her in cardiac arrest. "Amy honey, don't run too far now-"

"Sir Geoffrey!"

And like that, the child was off again and had already disappeared around the nearest corner; racing off towards a figure that was outside of her line of sight.

"See? What did I tell you?" Lucia chuckled. "I am going to kill my brother."

"Just wait to kill him after Amy's had her turn."

* * *

><p>Again, the paper reports were dropped from his grasp as he turned to see who else beckoned for his attention. He barely even noticed the quick-moving figure racing towards him, easily clearing the corridor in a matter of seconds it seemed.<p>

"Sir Geoffrey!" this time the voice was accompanied by the pigtailed girl who bounced around him and eagerly reached for one of his hands. "Momma said that there was a chance that I wouldn't find you today, but I did! I did!"

He chuckled lightly at the words and watched as she continued to refuse to stay in one place for too long. Leaning down, he managed to catch her in a mid-hop and hoisted her up into the air. "Is that so? Well don't tell her that she was wrong- she really hates that."

She broke out into a fit of giggles at the sudden lift just before he brought her back down and kept her supported in one arm. "Lady Lucia said that I could come to visit."

Oh yeah, he was fucked.

"Is that so? Well, Lucia would do something like that, now wouldn't she?" he remarked, more to himself than anyone else as one hand moved to ruffle through his blue hair. "I see you're doing better though, that's a good thing."

"Yeah, but mom had to cut off an inch of hair because it was burned." Amy admitted, as she tugged lightly at the ends of her pigtails to show off their shortened length. "It'll grow back though- at least that's what she told me."

"Well, your mother would know a thing or two about sudden haircuts." he remarked, remembering a time during the Mad Kings War when a rivaling fire Sage tried to threaten her power; needless to say, the enemy was missing a few more soldiers but she was forced to shed a few inches off of her blonde bun due to the closeness of a meteor hit. Not to mention, she also had to get a new outfit seeing as the hem of hers had been burned all the way up to her thighs... providing a near scandalous exposure of flesh. "Is she with you today?"

"Yeah but she's talking with Miss. Lucia right now." she answered before her eyes seemed to settle on the white bandages that dressed down to his elbow. "What's that? What happened to your arm?"

The shortness of his dull-green sleeves provided little chance of trying to hide the wrappings, but he wasn't exactly expecting to have a run-in with the girl today; Marcia had only told him the chance of seeing Calill... although he supposed he should've been able to put two and two together. "Uh... you know, just a minor burn from yesterday. I got a few of the healers to take care of it though, so there's no worrying about it."

"Good, because momma said that she didn't like the thought of you being hurt. She said that-"

"Amy honey, let's not spread words of what mommy might've said."

He glanced up at the voice and watched as the blonde-haired mage quickly picked up her steps to move closer towards them; he figured she was only doing so to deter her daughter from spilling anything else she might've said. Still though, he was a little curious as to what else could've been said between them. And right behind her, was Lucia walking at a slow and steady pace with that look to kill in her eyes.

"But you said-"

"Believe me sweetheart, I know what I said." Calill chuckled as she slowed her steps down once she drew closer to the two. "Did you show Sir Geoffrey the new haircut I had to give you last night?"

"I told her that you knew a thing or two about styling hair, especially considering that meteor battle a few years back." Geoffrey started.

"Oh, don't even remind me." she interrupted as a callous sigh escaped her lips. Oh, she knew that incident well and still bore a sense of annoyance to it. What a way to damage her beautiful locks and ruin one of her favorite dresses, but at least she was able to salvage her cape despite the mess.

"If you're talking about hair styles, I could recommend a few." Lucia teased, eventually joining in on the small bit of conversation. "Listen, I'm going to go speak with Elincia for awhile and keep her updated on what's going on right now; she said she would have a battle plan for us today."

He nodded and felt a slightly hollowed out feeling in the depths of his chest at the thought of a final decision on the matter. As much as he'd rather show Begnion who they were fighting and why Crimea should've been left out of this mess in the first place... again, it wasn't his decision to make. "Alright... hopefully it all goes well."

Although they both had a decent guess at what the Queen's final decision would be.

"Can I meet her? Please, please." Amy questioned.

"You'll have to ask your mother." Lucia started.

"You'll have to ask Lucia." Calill started at the same time, pausing slightly as she realized their combined statements contradicted one another. She caught eyes with the blue-haired woman before she softly chuckled. "Alright well... I would imagine that Queen Elincia is really busy today, but... I guess if Lady Lucia here can offer you just a small open period of time with her, then it's okay. Just behave yourself."

"Don't worry, Elincia loves meeting with children." Lucia assured; watching as her brother eventually set the girl down. "If we hurry though, we can probably catch her before she leaves the main room; she might let you sit on her throne."

Calill watched as her daughter took off down the corridor once more, even though she probably didn't know where she was going in the first place; Lucia was flexible with it though and rushed after her- laughing lightly to herself during the chase. She was thankful for everyone being so open with everything, although she knew that the Queen herself was more than willing to please anyone- and a visit from a happy child would more than likely raise her spirits in a desolate time like this. Turning her attention back towards the Commander, she found it a little odd to see him so casually dressed... she supposed she had just been so used to seeing him in armor that it was difficult to see him in anything else. Although, she had to admit, the simple attire was still fitting for him. "What did she tell you?"

"Nothing." he answered simply enough, catching the slight look of disbelief in her eyes. "She just gave me an up-to-date status on everything. I'm glad that she's okay though, I was a little worried about her when I left."

"Well to be honest, it's not like she suffered serious burns and an impalement wound." she reminded. "She's happy though and that's all I could ask for given the ongoing situation. But, now that we've established that she's okay, how are you doing?"

"A little sore and the burns are throbbing, but that's about it." he replied; moving one hand to rub the back of his neck for a moment. "Not to mention the thought of Lucia now wanting to kill me is also adding into the mix, but I could probably still take her even like this."

A brief chuckle escaped her at the answer and she figured he was well within his right to say that. "Lucia did seem pretty... upset, if that's a proper word for it, about you. Although, I have a feeling it was only more so because of you getting up and moving around, and not so much about your injury."

"She was still pissed off about that but there wasn't much she could do about it then; she likes to think that she can try to convince me to go with the healer's orders but that doesn't happen all too often." Geoffrey remarked. "And whenever she tries to bring it up, I just remind her about how everyone told her to take a few days off after the Ludveck incident but she didn't want to that. Honestly, she's a little hard-headed and stubborn at times, but I can't really deny the fact that I am too; it must be a family trait."

"I could see it, with how the two of you run around risking your lives like there's no tomorrow."

"Well someone has to do it, and knowing a few of the others, like Kieran, he's probably more likely to kill himself by sheer accident before getting anything done." he started before the sudden name brought up another question. "Actually, come to think of it, I haven't really seen Kieran lately... I saw everyone else this morning but they said he had left early."

"To be quite frank, I don't really think he's really even left the recovery site." Calill replied as fingertips moved to toy with a loose lock of blonde hair. "When you told him to look over everything during your absence, he took that to heart and he's been running the entire situation like his life depended on it. Lucia could barely get a word in to him because he rarely stood still long enough to hold a conversation. But he's doing a fine job if I had to comment on it, it could probably rival anything you would've done had you been there."

"That's probably why he's doing it, just to make sure he was running a job that was up to my standards."

She nodded lightly with his words and watched as he seemed to be momentarily distracted by something in the corridor behind her. More than likely, he was probably looking for Lucia to get a final word in on this matter... in terms of what they were going to do about Begnion. There were scattered words about it at the camp as a few soldiers were all the more willing to say what their opinions on the situation were; even Marcia dropped a word or two about it and proclaimed a sense of disgust in her expressions alone. It wasn't something easy for them to overlook. This was their country, this was their land... no one else had a right to simply storm in and take what wasn't theirs. "You're free to tell me if it's out of bounds to ask but... if Queen Elincia does give the right to move the army, what's next?"

The question was the same one he had been contemplating about for awhile now and he was still grasping for some kind of answer to it. It was a difficult matter to think through rationally and not get upset over; he usually prided himself on being able to separate his emotions from his thoughts but... as of lately, it was getting harder to. With the Ludveck incident still fresh in the back of his mind, his rational thinking helped him through the battles and ambushes, but he almost lost Lucia at the end of it. And even just now, it was easy to rush through the burning city with only the intent to kill the trespassing soldiers, but he couldn't bring himself to ignore the screams for help either. There was always two enemies in every battle it seemed. In that last one, he had to fight soldiers and flames, both of whom made him an easy victim. "I have no doubts that there will be plenty of people here who are all the more willing to go to battle with Begnion; we've all heard the reports and the turmoil they're causing with Daein and Gallia. I can't really say I'm surprised about it, but as of recently, people are saying that Begnion herself is splitting in half. If we get involved, we're in for the long run and things can only go downhill from here... but we can't just sit aside and watch it happen. Elincia knows that... I trust that she'll make the right decision soon enough."

It was easy to tell how he was trying to repress himself from saying anything out of his character or anything that would incriminate him; he had always been a careful leader, trying to think everything through rationally first. "Well I hope that decision comes soon enough, I'm going to need to know what to pack before we leave." she noted lightly, hinting the words with a playful tone to lighten the mood.

It took a short moment before the words seemed to click inside of his head. "Wait, wait... you don't think you're going to accompany us, do you?"

"Well of course I am, Queen Elincia already gave me her passing for it, besides... I still have to find a suitable way to thank you for everything."


	4. Chapter 4

This war was only leading to more and more turning points that scared him more than it should have.

As if finally receiving Bastian's letter didn't leave enough of an empty feeling in the bottom of his stomach, when he finally finished his travels to their predetermined meeting point... things only got worse from there. The large convoy the diplomat brought with him had an overall feeling of eeriness to it and the standing guards did little to fix his uneasiness with it. But they had been working for years to finally get to this point... to finally be this close to getting a cure for Sir Renning, he had to push aside his darkened thoughts. Their greetings were short-lived as though they both knew the risks they were about to take with this whole operation.

_"You sure you have enough soldiers with you?" he had questioned with half a sense of sarcasm buried somewhere underneath his heavy tone._

_"Do you think it's possible to have too many?" Bastian replied, brushing aside a loose curl of hair that had somehow gotten itself loose._

_"No, I guess not."_

But now... now it seemed like someone was determined to anti up the game and see just how far they could push it; just to see how far the boundaries could be pushed before everything they had known for years crumbled around them like broken ashes.

Dark-blue eyes moved unsteadily across the frozen horizon, unable to comprehend the scene that was right in front of them; unable to comprehend what had happened while his back was turned. One moment, he was speaking with Bastian about something and the next... it was absolute silence outside. Some of the soldiers complained of a sudden burst of light just before everything went still, but they had been in an interior room with no windows so they didn't see anything. All it took was one step outside to realize and question what the hell was going on.

They had taken an elongated break through the night and were prepared to get a late start on the road. There were plans to go over and last minute route shifting that he and Bastian were arguing over just before everything hit. But now... they had a lot more to worry about than just whether to take a right or left at the next fork in the road. The quiet morning town just outside of the fort they had taken to for the night was brought to a complete stand still.

Once living and breathing, laughing and smiling crowds were reduced to statues that bore little resemblance to their living halves; it was like the carved out rocks were merely gray shadows to hold the places of their former selves.

Hesitation took second place to curiosity as he gradually ran his fingers down along the concrete arm of a worker; feeling the slight brush of snowflakes slowly taking to the smooth surface like it was any other structure, showing no regards to who the man had once been. He moved slowly through the still crowd and overlooked the frozen faces that knew nothing about what had happened... They were victims of someone of higher power.

"She's awake."

Those two words were almost whispered and yet, in the pure silence around them, they sounded much louder. It left a cold chill down his spine and he didn't want to believe him... he didn't want to even imagine what those words meant, let alone what they would lead to.

"How is that possible?"

"The answer and reasoning for such escapes me... let's get back on the road; the truth is surely to be awaiting us at the end of this perilous journey."

The world was a lot creepier when one was surrounded by silence and silence alone. Every town they passed through was marked with the same images of people frozen in the midst of their day, their only purpose for that given moment was to take care of a chore of some sort. There was a sickening feeling that followed the sight of a schoolhouse that was just being released; a small crowd of children stuck somewhere in the midst of running, their books lost somewhere behind them. No one was spared this cruel fate but... one had to question why they were still moving. Why they were still completely normal?

What made them different?

* * *

><p>"Well... this is certainly an odd situation..."<p>

Never before in his life did he wish for the wind Sage to... find another place to be at the moment. The last thing he needed to do right now was discuss reasons for why some people were frozen and why others weren't. Actually, the last thing he wanted to do was even discuss this entire matter, but that wasn't going to be happening any time soon either. They were taking a break from traveling and taking some time to get their things back together, Bastian wanted to check and see how Renning was doing... even with some of their best mages trying to keep him calm and under control, nothing was working. This wasn't the first town they had stopped in and while they all carried on the same stone silhouettes, he still took his time to investigate the streets regardless. This was Crimea, this was his homeland... he just carried on that thought that he should've been able to help these people; he should've been able to do something.

Lifeless eyes continued to stare past him as though questioning why he wasn't there to save them... and why he couldn't do anything about it now.

It dug underneath his skin and buried itself into the back of his mind, reminding him at all the odd hours of the day and night.

But things took a momentary shift when he swore he heard something coming from one of the residential cottages. At first, he tried to convince himself that it was just his mind playing tricks on him, that he just wanted there to be some kind of noise to interrupt this silence. Still, he felt the need to look into it regardless, at the very least to just dispel the motion as being a hopeless mind trick.

And for the the second time, he was glad to have acted against the skepticism.

He shifted his attention away from the other man and back to the girl in front of him; she was trying really hard not to cry again, but it was easy to see that it was going to be a losing battle with that. It was a bit difficult to not get lost in the mixed emotions of the situation just the same...

"I don't know what happened..."

Hell, no one knew what was happening or why it had happened... "It's okay." he assured as he carefully brushed aside her loose bangs, pushing them from her face. It was odd that of all the people outside who were frozen and reduced to statues, she was still okay; she didn't show even an inch of change, even her shortened pigtails were still curled. He didn't want to think all too much on it at the moment, but he was certainly glad she was fine- maybe a little scared and frightened by the whole matter, but then again, they all shared those same feelings. "We'll figure out what happened and we'll fix it."

Those big, violet-red eyes of hers looked up to him as she moved one hand to brush over her cheek. "Is... is my mom with you?"

"No, I had to go off to handle some other business... but I know where we can find her." he started. "Do you think you can handle a few days of travel-" he didn't even have to finish his question before the child had practically latched herself to him; her arms tightly thrown around his neck. A brief chuckle escaped him before he lifted her up with him and carried her back out of the small cottage home; he remembered Calill mentioning something about letting her stay with a few relatives during her absence, he guessed this was where she was sent to. It was easy to notice that the wind Sage had momentarily departed himself elsewhere and for a moment, he hoped it would stay that way.

"Ah, and who is this cute little beauty Queen."

Nevermind. He was still here.

"Amy." she answered, partly keeping herself hidden against his armor.

"She's Calill's daughter." he added.

"Ah, Lady Calill's girl, are you? Let me tell you, I have stories a-plenty of your mother." Bastian started, showing off that grin of his that came up whenever he was about to go off on some kind of elongated spill. "Why, during the Mad King's War, she wouldn't leave Sir Geoffrey here alone; she was always calling and swooning after him-"

For the love of the- "Bastian, please." he interrupted; feeling part of his face heat up slightly at the words. "Now is not the time for such tales."

"Ha ha, she still does that now." Amy giggled. "She's always talking about how handsome he is and if he's going to come visit her again."

"Well look at that, Geoffrey, it appears as though you have a small fan."

Sometimes he really hated how the man played into these kind of situations, knowing well of how he... liked to keep a withheld demeanor about them. It was difficult enough trying to evade Lucia's questions and remarks, but Bastian always seemed to make them even worse with his elaborated speeches and clever words. He sighed briefly to himself and did his best to ignore the interaction... but it was getting the girl to laugh again and allowing for her to forget about the situation around them for a few brief moments; he supposed he could allow for it to bypass this time around, just barely though.

"Sometimes I wish he could be my dad."

The look on Bastian's face was probably one that mimicked his own; a slightly startled admission followed by a sense of disbelief and the uncomfortable awkwardness that took over when neither could produce an appropriate response. It felt like his own head was spinning with mismatched thoughts and those same words repeating themselves again and again. He was aware that he often times visited the two of them on a frequent schedule and... maybe the attention that he and Calill shared was all too obvious, but still... Maybe he was just over thinking it, maybe she was just making reference to how he saved her from that fire; it was probably just about how he's been keeping her safe as of lately...

"Well, you're in good hands, my Lady Amy, Sir Geoffrey here would make an excellent father."

If looks could kill, he would've hoped for the man to be a bloody heap by now.

* * *

><p>"Sir Bastian... the scouts are reporting something about a Golden army just ahead of us."<p>

The Mage frowned briefly at the words and called for the convoy behind him to pull to a halt. There was a moment where he seemed stuck in his own thoughts before he eventually glanced over towards him instead. "A golden army? Do you mean Begnion forces?"

"No sir." the guard reported; one hand seemed to tug nervously at his helmet as he spoke. "They bear no insignia or flag of any nation, it's as if they were dropped from the sky."

"Dropped from the sky?" Bastian slowly repeated, as though to make sure that he didn't confuse the words. Another frown set on his lips as he disappeared into his mind once more. "How-"

"Let's face it, it wouldn't be the strangest thing to have happened so far." Geoffrey reminded.

"Oh yes, people turning into stone and everyone we've known are their own glorified statues and now there's a magical, golden army that's been dropped from the sky." Bastian listed, fingertips moving to squeeze the space between his eyes. It was easy to tell that the entire situation was beginning to bear down on the Sage's nerves- he had enough to deal with with just Sir Renning alone, but now this? He had witnessed the man break down only a small handful of times during the near entire lifetime they had known each other... this was just like any other time. But slowly, he regained his composure before he turned his attention back to the reporting guard. "How large are their numbers? Is there a way we can go around them?"

"They outnumber us by at least three-to-one-"

"Sir Bastian! We have enemy forces headed this way!" the sudden shout canceled out their previous conversation as one of armored scouts came breaking through the forest line that surrounded them on three sides. His armor showed signs of fresh damage and his helmet had been knocked completely off, revealing a deep cut that bled down along his jawline. "They've already taken out Jackson and Harrison."

For a brief moment, there almost appeared to be a sense of panic across the Sage's expression before it was quickly dashed away. "We can't risk a confrontation right now. I want five guards to protect the convoy and get it out of here; the rest of us will provide backup-"

"I'll run ahead and provide a distraction, you stay with the convoy." Geoffrey interrupted; catching the man by surprise.

"What? You can't possible be serious."

"Look, you know as well as I do just how important it is to keep the convoy safe; we can't risk any kind of opening right now." he started, already pulling lightly on the reigns to prepare the stallion for a new order. "I think it would be best if you stayed with it- I trust you to do whatever you have to to keep it all together. This is the closest we've gotten in years to finally solving this... we can't just let it escape our grasp now."

There was a stumble of broken words for reason, a mad grasp for something to say to deter his words. But in the end, nothing won; in the end, there was a simple sigh of defeat that was accompanied by a reluctant mark of hate. "Either way we look at this, it's a bad decision, but... we can't risk anything at the moment." Bastian slowly replied; watching as guards rushed back and forth around them to turn the convoy away. There was a secondary path they could take just a few miles back... if they could keep these new soldiers off their backs for that long, then they should be free. That wasn't to say that they wouldn't run into more further down but it was the safest option they had at hand right now. "We'll be heading down to Willow's peak, meet us there if we're not still on the pathway."

He gave a brief nod and moved to loosen one of the silver lances he kept at his side; fingers unclipping the leather straps just enough to pull the weapon loose. "I'll see what kind of information I can take from them and relay what I find out when we regroup. At the least, I'll try to turn them in another direction, but there's no promises. Keep your men on standby, we don't know if they've already blocked off the path behind us or not."

"Don't worry, I've hired the best mercenaries to accompany us this time." Bastian remarked with a soft, brief chuckle as though in an attempt to bring light to the mood. "And Geoffrey, just be sure to make it back; I don't want to break it to Lady Amy that she's lost a second father."

* * *

><p>They had been traveling for what felt like days now, running into brief skirmishes with this so called 'Golden' army that the Begnion senators were commanding. None of them were quite as harsh as the one against Senator Voltome, but she had a feeling they would be coming up to another battle like that soon enough; the battle was still harsh against her aching bones and all she could feel was the burning pain in her ankles with every step. But they were finally resting for the night, something everyone seemed to quietly embrace.<p>

Sometimes all she wanted to do was rest but... it was the dead silence at night that caught her off-guard the most. Everyone remembered the bright light and the sudden silence that wrecked the outside world. Soldiers from every country were left frozen in the midst of battle, their weapons raised to deliver a final blow that would never come. Those that were left with the ability to still move and fight were put into three large teams that would head towards the Goddess' tower, wiping out any remaining Senators they found along the way. So far, they were pretty successful with it.

But with every town they passed by, with every frozen crowd of civilians, all she could think about was Amy. The girl must've been absolutely frightened about this whole ordeal... that is if she wasn't frozen just like the rest of them.

"Hey Calill."

She broke away from her thoughts at the call and looked up to see Lucia walking towards her once more; she moved away from where she organizing her tomes... not that they really needed it, it was just something to keep her busy. "Lucia. Is there something I can help you with?"

"I was just making my rounds and making sure everyone was settled in for the night." she answered. "Are you okay? I heard you took a pretty nasty hit from a wind Sage."

"Oh, that? Just a mere inconvenience at best." Calill assured with a light click at the tip of her tongue. "At most, it knocked some of my hair loose, but that was about it."

Lucia chuckled lightly at the woman's high talk and obvious confidence in her defense. "I just wanted to check for myself, that's all. We'll have a longer day ahead of us tomorrow, I need to make sure that everyone's going to be in top shape for it."

"Why? Where exactly are we going tomorrow?"

"We'll be passing by an old swamp tomorrow... it'll be messy and there's a good chance we might get lost in it." Lucia sighed, moving one hand to ruffle her blue locks. "There's no other way we can get around it, at least nothing that the map says; King Tibarn has offered to fly ahead to see if he can spot anything, but we'll have to wait until daylight returns."

The thought of getting anywhere close to a swamp irked her and she couldn't help but to cringe at how messy it would get. "Well, let's do hope there's another way to get there then..." she watched as the swordswoman gave a quick nod in acknowledgement; the two of them sharing the same reluctancy to encounter muddy ground mixed with unstable footing and about six inches of water to slip up a step or two. "... Have you heard from Geoffrey lately?"

"Unfortunately no. All I know is that Bastian called him out for something urgent, something he didn't want to share with me... which can't mean anything good." Lucia remarked. "I'm caught between knowing that he knows what he's doing... and being worried because he doesn't know about what's really going on; I have no doubts that they've run into the Golden army by now but... they're probably completely clueless about it. If Bastian is there, they'll keep each other safe and return in good health, but I can't help but to think what exactly they're risking their lives for."

It was a complex mix of emotions for the woman; she was both worried for her brother and questioning his antics at the same time. She supposed she was doing just the same thing... the Royal Knights were mixed with other various fighters but they didn't feel complete without their Commander. Kieran was doing his best to keep everything under control and his loud attitude showed no fraying in terms of his confidence; he was a good leader but even he wished for the Commander's return. Queen Elincia looked to be fretting the most over it even though she tried to hide her emotions the best she could. But this was wartimes now and sometimes a Lady's place on the battlefield was a difficult one to manage. "I'm sure he's fine, you know how Geoffrey can be. And you certainly know how Count Bastian can be. Whatever they're doing out there, they're doing the best they can to handle it."

"I don't know, I mean, I know how Bastian and Geoffrey can be when they get together." Lucia mused with a soft chuckle. "Those two have been friends since they could first walk, they're much like how Elincia and I are; people think we're doing the best we can, but often times we're just causing trouble."

"Well I suppose one can't entirely knock that out of perspective."

Shaking her head lightly, she pulled her blue locks out of her face once more and started to continue the finishing lap of her rounds... but decided to stop for just a few more minutes. It really wasn't any of her business... okay, well maybe a little, but curiosity was a damnation on human kind. "You really miss him."

She felt a rush of heat flood to her cheeks at the remark and felt her voice stutter slightly in her throat as she tried to find something to say in response. It felt like minutes passed on in her head and she knew the silence alone was probably enough to throw it all to the wind. A hesitated and slightly embarrassed chuckle escaped from her as fingertips tucked away a loose lock of hair. "That obvious then?"

"It's been obvious for years but he's just now let his defense slip." Lucia chuckled.

"His defense?" she repeated.

The other woman gave her a brief shrug in response and continued about her way. "Yeah, well... you know how Geoffrey can be sometimes."

She watched as the woman continued her way through the camp and eventually disappeared behind a small crowd that was helping to move some weapons around. Her tomes were easily forgotten about as she ducked back into her tent for a moment to try and regain some of her composure. This was a time of war and everything they knew was hanging in balance... and here she was acting like some kind of school girl; acting like she had never been in love before. But she knew all about loving fast and losing out in the end, either through another party or simply death...

And yet, just the thought of the blue-haired Commander sent her into another world it seemed like.

It would seem to be in the best of interest to play the feeling off until the war was over, or just keep repressing it until it rotted away... but she remembered how Amy always talked about him. The little girl was almost more excited to see him than she was, then again she had the ability to take off running across the room without looking like a hysterical woman. The night after he saved her from the fires, she wouldn't stop talking about how brave he was and how he was a storybook hero. And when she fell asleep that night, she mumbled softly about wishing he could be her father...

Oh Goddess, she thought she was going to die right then and there.


	5. Chapter 5

They managed to make it through a few days without attack from these soldiers in gold armor; pushing themselves to finish their mission and regroup with the rest of the Royal Knights. The last night was skipped of sleep and they walked through the cloak of darkness in hopes to gain a decent amount of coverage on their moving counterparts.

It was a few hours after midnight before their hard work paid off. A scout came back to report that they had spotted a fire up ahead and a large campsite that bore the insignia of Crimea on their tents. It was a huge relief to everyone as they eagerly pressed themselves through those last few miles.

There was some worry that they would wake them up from some much needed sleep, but all of that was tossed away at the sight of the minor greeting party that was awaiting them. The long hours of traveling on horseback made him sore all over and forced his muscles to ache with every pulled motion, but he still graciously accepted the tired embrace from his sister.

"You had me worried there for a moment." Lucia remarked, stifling a short yawn that played on her lips. Her eyes shifted to the dark convoy that was finding a suitable stopping place behind him before she looked back towards him for an answer. "What... is all of that?"

"Uh... nothing, don't worry about it for now." he assured, brushing aside a few of her tangled locks. "How have you guys been handling yourselves? Is anyone injured?"

"No, we've been doing a decent job at protecting ourselves; we encountered Senator Voltome's forces a few days ago... that was the last encounter we had with the Golden army. What about you guys? I mean... it looks like you've had your own little entourage to escort, it couldn't have been that easy to get around them." Lucia continued to press; noting her brother's easy sense of reluctancy in the matter. She brought her arms to cross over her chest as she continued to watch the movement behind him. "Who are they?"

She wasn't going to let him go with the questioning... he only had one option to go with to get her off his back about it. "I can't really give you a proper answer with that, why don't you ask Bastian about it."

"My Lady Lucia! How my heart swells at just the sight of your pure beauty!"

The sudden twist of her expression told of a reaction completely opposite of the Sage's; it also carried on a message that told him to find a safe place to hide when she was through with the Count. He was sure to make note of that as he watched her reluctantly go to see the man, doing her best to express at least half of his enthusiasm. Shaking his head, he chuckled lightly at her struggle before he remembered his own plan of action he was supposed to do once they arrived at the camp. He moved back to his stallion, patting the tired animal on the nose before he moved him over to where the other horses were resting; tying the reigns to an available post. He would remove the equipment later, right now he had another matter to take care of.

For most of the trip, Amy insisted on riding with him and pointing out all the different landscapes around them; she stayed in one of the carriages whenever she got too tired or when he had to divert the attention of the golden soldiers away from the convoy. Bastian always liked to remark that the young lady didn't like the aspect of him disappearing and was all the more excited when he finally re-appeared; he tried not to put too much thought into it.

She was nicely tucked in and asleep in the back of the carriage, he almost felt bad for waking her as he picked her up as carefully as he could; she only seemed to mumble softly before she fell back asleep without another word. That was one challenge down, now to figure out where her mother was... he guessed he could question Lucia about it, but he doubted that he could get her away from Bastian long enough to ask. He probably didn't want to deal with the looks she would give him anyways. Moving back into the camp, he watched as a few soldiers straggled around at the new noises and moved to help with what they could.

"Commander Geoffrey! Your gracious return is a glorious one for the Royal Knights!"

Oh sweet Goddess...

Sighing, he put on his best face and nodded briefly to the red-haired Second-in-Command. "Kieran, it's nice to see you're in good health. How have the Royal Knights been?"

If there was any sense of sleep deprivation affecting the man, he didn't show a single sign about it; instead he looked just as alive and alert as he would have on any other day. "We're doing well even without your supervision, but I believe we'll now be at our full potential with you back in lead."

"Right... uh, listen, I'll come back and speak with you but I need to know where Calill is; Amy's been worrying about her for days now." he started.

"Well then, that makes two of them; Lady Calill's attention has been... mildly distracted these last few days." Kieran remarked. "Her tent is just down towards the end of camp, next to Marcia's. More than likely though, the noise has probably awakened her just like it has everyone else..."

"Geoffrey?"

That was the voice he was looking for. "Kieran, can you assist some of the guards with unpacking supplies? We brought a new armory of weapons just in case you guys were running down to silver shavings and splinters." the Second-in-Command gave a rather enthusiastic response and went away to help with the half-sleeping regiment that shuffled around the unloaded boxes. He shook his head at the man before he turned his attention back towards the approaching woman; she had one hand lightly pressed against her eye as she tried to pull herself completely out of her trance of sleep. A yawn toyed on her still red lips while her other hand tugged lightly at the cape that was barely draped over her shoulders; attempting to keep a sense of modesty with her wrinkled clothes. "Calill, I've been looking for you."

"Looking for me?" she repeated, knowing well that she certainly didn't look the part for being looked for; her hair and make up was a mess, her dress was out of shape from getting dressed so quickly at the noises outside... she was almost certain she had her shoes on the wrong feet. Clearing the sight out of one eye, she watched as he moved towards her at a steady pace and just barely noticed the smaller figure he had in his arms. "Where have you been- oh my goodness, Amy..."

"She just went to sleep." he started; watching as she hurried through those last few steps between them. He carefully moved the girl over to her mother once more and watched as she mumbled slightly before snuggling back in. "These last few days have been heavy on everyone but she's been handling it pretty well; it's probably not the safest thing to do but I figured she'd be safer here than by herself with those..."

"Statues?" she finished, watching as he slowly nodded in response. "Regardless, I could keep her safer than anyone else... Thank you. Again."

"It's quite alright. She kept most of us entertained for those few days."

She frowned briefly and found herself almost fearful for what the young girl might've said to him. "Oh dear, what did she say this time?"

"It wasn't so much just her, but her and Bastian going back and forth with one another; I've never see him argue with someone so many times over the smallest things." he answered with a brief chuckle. "He was just trying to keep her spirits up but I don't think she really liked his elaborated speeches."

Thank the Goddess. "Yes well, she does prefer things simple... which is completely opposite of Count Bastian."

"Isn't that the truth..." he nodded; watching as the woman turned her attention back to the pigtailed-girl in her arms. There was this almost... unsettled feeling in the back of his chest that began to burn its way through his mind, making itself completely at home tucked into his attention span; making itself nearly impossible to ignore at this point. He had been hoping to avoid it for some time now, but it would seem like Fate was working itself against him. He was trying though... it seemed like all that hard work that went into avoiding a situation like this was all for nothing; there was a fine line between every little step and he had been hoping to keep his position as Commander on its own walkway, separated from everything around him. It would've worked had this whole ordeal not broken lose, had they not had to join forces again and travel together. He guessed it was just a lot easier to be with her when she was the lady of the bar or the pretty clerk at the inn, not when she was their fire Sage who could incinerate half of the battlefield with a spell or two; when she was just a civilian and not a listed member in the Crimean army. It all sounded foolish when he thought about it and it was ridiculous that he would give himself so many problems over it. Things should've been simple and easy enough right? There was something there but he was just too reluctant to act on it; this was probably the last chance he had to do so though. "Listen Calill-"

"Ah, m'Lady Calill, I see you've been reunited with your equally lovely daughter, little Lady Amy." Bastian interrupted; seemingly appearing out of nowhere as he simply teleported to his side. "I hope you don't mind my intrusion, but I must borrow Sir Geoffrey here for just a moment. I promise to bring him back in one piece though."

There wasn't another loose moment for words as he felt the Count grab him by the arm before he lead him away from the two. For a moment, a part of him wanted to curse the Sage... but his better half thought differently; the man wouldn't simply intrude just to do it... there had to be a reason for it. Or at least he hoped so. "What is it this time? A cargo piece missing or something?"

It was at that point the man's expression changed from being carelessly cheerful to something far more grave and serious. "No, not a piece of cargo- well I suppose in a sense you could refer it to being such. But, my lovely friend Volke just informed me a few moments ago that our captive has escaped; he's been gone for half an hour now."

"Half an hour?" he repeated with a minor hiss in his words; snapping to look back at the man. "And we're just hearing about it now?"

"I assure you, Geoffrey, you're not the only one bearing ill feelings in this matter." Bastian retorted. "At best, we're not too far behind him, there's not all too many places for him to go anyways. I sent Volke off at the moment's notice, I have no doubts that he'll be able to track the dastard down but... it won't be easy to get him back into our holds- especially if we wish to continue carrying this secret."

He knew what the man was saying and agreed to the matter... still maintaining a sense of hate at the overall situation. It was all going so well, why did it have to fall apart right now? In the dead of night no less... A thick sigh escaped him as he pinched the empty space between his eyes for a moment, trying to tame the headache that was tempted to start a rampage across his senses. "Alright... alright, I'll go out and see what I can find; if we can capture him sometime tonight, then we should still be in a good position. If not... then everything up to this point is wasted and we might as well throw the whole operation away."

"Now, now, let's not get pessimistic here-"

"I'll get my horse, you figure out something to tell Lucia."

If there was one thing he hated more than getting ambush, or losing a battle or even having to deal with Lucia on a bad day... it was traveling at nighttime- or rather, fighting in the dark. Especially in the middle of the dense forest with swamp lands just on the other side of the tree line. And they were chasing some kind of crazed madman who was destined to change the world with his Laguz experiments and trials. But they needed to locate him, track him down and recapture him as soon as possible for the sake of everything they had worked for up to this point.

He wished his horse could've had a little longer period of rest, he felt like he was trying to run the damn thing to it's death with exhaustion alone. Then again, he figured he would croak first because of some stupid mistake made by deprivation. Now was really not the time to be focused on that though... he had to keep his eyes on what he could see in front of him, which wasn't really much to start with. Shaking his head, he continued to push a path through the tangled brush underfoot; feeling the large animal beneath him quiver slightly in hesitation at the complicated steps. A few foreign steps echoed just a couple of yards from him, the owner of those noises was lost in the darkness but he knew it was someone from the convoy; someone on his side at least.

It would probably take some time before Bastian could catch up to him, so until then he was on his own out here. Not that that made him nervous at all, well a little bit but more so because he didn't want to lose track of this guy; he was more afraid of losing track of their prisoner than he was of getting ambushed out here... that said something, right? They just couldn't risk losing Sir Renning right now, not when they were so close to finally curing him.

First there was this whole ordeal with people turning to stone and then those golden soldiers chasing after them, and now this... what else could possibly go wrong? On second thought, he didn't want an answer because he didn't want to imagine anything worse than this. But on top of all of this, there was the matter with Calill, which he still wasn't certain of how to respond to... at least not in a professional sense. Maybe he should just wait till the war was over, with the hope that they were still going to be alive at the end of it, to press the matter further.

* * *

><p>They spent most of the night searching through the dense brush for the dastard and just as the sun was rising, they managed to stumble across his hideout. Unfortunately, he managed to rise his own army of Feral Ones... making this situation even more difficult then it should've been. It was going to be a tedious battle, but they were ready for it.<p>

At least they had been.

"Bastian! What in the world is going on? I insist on a straight answer!"

The sight of their Emerald-haired Queen just a short distance from them nearly put the two of them into cardiac arrest. Lucia's appearance close to her side only made the feeling even worse. It would be a lie to say that they hadn't been hoping to keep this whole operation under wraps from those two... unfortunately Fate had turned her back on them. Of all the times to interrupt them, of all the times to show up... just when they located the man...

"Your Majesty! Sister! Why are you here?" Geoffrey called back to the two; pulling nervously on the reigns as the horse seemed to move with his own sense of uncertainty. This was the last place he wanted the both of them to be right now, even with the Hawk King assisting the battle.

Lucia had that look to kill once more and he saw Bastian struggle for a moment under her gaze. "That's not important! Explain why there are Feral Ones here!"

He was lost for an answer, under the sudden capture between the two situations it was suddenly difficult to keep a solid train of thought.

The wind Sage stepped forward for a moment and tugged against the stiff collar of his jacket for a moment. "Do you see that odious man among them? He's controlling them. He is using fell magic to summon the poor Laguz souls who were turned into Feral Ones! He is the man who escaped our custody last night. Volke found him just now." like any great presenter, he guided their attention to the black-coated man who was just barely visible from the other side of the swamp; his hunched over, slender form guarded by snarling and foaming Laguz soldiers. "His name is Izuka. He designed the process that created the Feral Ones!"

That was all that needed to be said, or probably even more than was needed. The Hawk King seemed to erupt at the words, his massive wingspan snapping out into full shape in a sign of aggression; his lips were pulled back in the look of a scarred snarl. "What? He's the butcher who twisted the lives of my kinsmen? He won't die quickly. I'll make sure his screams are heard in Phoenicis, Gallia... even Goldoa."

That alone was enough to solidify that this battle was going to be a crowd-situation soon enough. It would seem that there was nothing they could do about it now...

A look of concern marked the Queen's expression before she soon dashed away the sensitive reaction. Fingertips reached to loosen the sword at her waist before she pulled it free; allowing for the rarely seen blade to be caressed by the rising sunlight. The motion alone was enough to cause Lucia to withdraw her own weapon just a second behind. "We can't let a creature that twisted roam free. We must fight!"

And like that, the tree line broke apart with fighters; the Royal Knights closing in quickly to support Queen Elincia in the battle. It felt like a huge weight was lifted off their shoulders and he watched as even Bastian seemed to breathe a sigh of relief at the motion... that was until he noticed the moving forms of Feral Ones headed in their direction.

"You two, Lord Jester and Commander Geoffrey." Tibarn called, catching them as they were about to break to form a protective line against the attackers. "I'm not going to tiptoe around this issue, I want that man dead and I want to be the one to kill him off."

"Had this been any other situation, I would've eagerly granted you that privilege, but this man is important to us-" Bastian started before he stopped himself in mid-sentence, another revelation seemingly hitting him. "On second thought, I have a better plan of action. If you can capture him alive for us, we'll get what we need from him... and then he'll be yours to kill."

The Hawk King gave it a quick moment to think it over before he nodded in reluctancy. "I can't promise that he'll be in one piece... or even alive, but I'll try to do my best."

"That's all I can ask of you." Bastian nodded; watching as the man took off running down the swamp land in front of them, easily transforming into a massive Hawk just before he hit the water. It was still an odd scene to witness but majestic just the same... they were all thankful he was on their side though. "There's a lot of Feral Ones out there, even the Hawk King himself will have a difficult time keeping flight."

"Don't worry, we'll be providing back up and ensuring none of these Feral Ones get close to the Queen." Geoffrey assured, tugging on the reigns once more. "Stay here and keep close to her side just in case some of these Laguzs get past us; you can cover us from a distance."

"Sure thing, Commander."

He pulled free the lance at his side and felt the way his grip seemed to hesitate for a moment. This was a dangerous battle they were heading into... they didn't have a choice on the matter with the pick of the field or the enemies, but he was pretty certain everyone was more willing to go against the golden army instead. Even he preferred the mindless drones over these senseless killers.

"Commander, what are your orders?" Kieran requested, pulling himself up to his side; one hand already faintly twirling a poleax as he scouted the field ahead of them. Slowly, the rest of the Royal Knights joined him, apparently sharing the same sense of uneasiness as they faced the ever shifting horizon of approaching Feral Ones.

It was a careful picking on the environment that was immediately around them and picking out the places that were to tightly packed with tangled foliage for anyone to pass through. The small landing they were on right now provided a rather suitable defensive post, allowing for only a few places that could be used as an opening for the enemy. "Kieran, I want you to come with me; we'll be assisting King Tibarn out in the waters. I want the rest of you to form a blockade at the two front openings; Paladins and fighters up front, have the Mages and any archers behind you providing back up and cover power. I don't want anyone to get through here and have an opening on Queen Elincia, is that understood?" there was a passing of faint nods through the crowd as they started to shift back into formation; taking up their new places of attack. "Don't break your lines but don't put yourselves in danger either, stay safe; if there's an enemy that you don't think you can handle, call on one of your allies."

"With all due respect Commander... there are Dragons out there." Astrid started as fingertips seemed to subconsciously strum on the string of her bow, an arrow already tightly tucked between her fingers.

"Worry not, m'lady Astrid, we are acceptable foes." Bastian assured with a suitable flip of his jacket.

"Just let me take care of the big ones." Tauroneo offered.

Alright, well at least they were going to watch each other's backs and do their best in this battle. Still, the sight of the lumbering giants headed their way was uncomfortable and left an uneasy, spinning sensation in his head. But now was not the time for second-guessing, King Tibarn was already tearing his way through the battlefield but new reinforcements were rising with every single fall; he needed their assistance. "Follow my lead Kieran." and like that, they were off into the swamp.

The near black water splashed up with every pounding gait of their mounts, who raced through the sludge as best they could. The occasional stumble provided evidence of underwater obstacles and a new sense of fear as the thought of being thrown off out in the heat of the field wouldn't leave him alone. At first, the battle of silver, handmade weapons seemed to do little against the natural fighting power of the Feral Ones; their claws broke easily through his attacks and he was forced to weave his way around their strikes, feeling the burning sting as a claw tore down his left shin when he was too slow to retreat. But as minutes progressed, he formed a fighting style against their mindless attacks and figured out their motives. The cats went low to try and angled higher at the last minute, striking his legs or attempting to injury his horse instead; the tigers ran in at full strength, their heavier sets found the water more hindering but their attacks were far more dangerous as they smashed themselves into him. His stallion neighed and circled around in a loose attempt to get its balance back before the second tiger came in for the strike. His heart felt like it tripled in speed as the horse reared up at the last moment and he found himself nearly colliding face first into the back of the animal's skull; the quick drop afterwards left his stomach hurting, but not as badly as his nerves as he listened to the sharpened crunch of hooves coming down on top of the tiger's back.

The Ravens and Hawks were the worst of it though.

With every gracious swoop, they would arch downward and strike when he wasn't watching; his focus more glued to the ground rather than the air. Their talons, while looking as though they weren't nearly as durable as the Tigers' claws, were just as sharp- if not sharper. He felt the way they shredded easily through the fabric of his sleeve like it was little more than paper, glad that the attack missed by just centimeters and allowed for him to keep his flesh intact for a little while longer. While the feline beasts were more prone to come in for a side strike or attack from behind, the birds went straight in for the kill. He barely managed to turn himself away from an attack in time and yet still felt the stunned realization of a talon ripping easily across his cheek and tearing through his lower lip; shredding the easy flesh like it was nothing.

But the taste of his own blood bubbling back down his throat and spilling itself over his neck was going to do little to convince him to turn away.

He was fighting for something more than just his own life out here, or even the life of the Queen for that matter.


	6. Chapter 6

The battlefield in front of them looked like something out of a horror story or something... sure, they had battled Feral Ones before but given the appearance of dragons and the limitations of the swamp, it was a little more dangerous this time around. Fingertips tapped almost nervously against the tome in her hand as she watched the latest wave of Feral Ones fall to the front line. So far so good though, she had to admit she was impressed with how everyone was holding up given the situation, which in itself was a bit difficult to comprehend. From what she heard from Queen Elincia and Lucia, this man that was controlling the Feral Ones was originally under Bastian's and Geoffrey's watch. What exactly were they doing with him though? What made this... twisted man so important?

"We got a dragon incoming from the left!" Astrid called, tugging on the reigns as her horse paced nervously in place at the approaching figure. "Honey-"

It was kind of funny to pick up on everyone's nervous habits in a battle as close-knit like this. Marcia had a habit of tugging on her belt when not in combat, occasionally breaking the buckle once or twice during a battle. Tauroneo preferred to stroke his beard every now and again, as though contemplating what the hell he was going to do next; then again, with how his armor reduced his movements, he probably needed to make sure he planned out each move so he didn't get stuck somewhere. And then there was Astrid, who preferred to call Makalov by colorful nicknames instead; his reaction was usually one of compliance, as though earlier attempts to correct the behavior had been for naught, but he stayed close to her side whenever she called for him. As for herself, she guessed she just preferred to keep her concentration on the tome in front of her to reduce the risk of looking even the slightest bit hysterical.

"Sounds like it's our turn then." Bastian responded, almost too cheerfully for this kind of battle. She had to admit that the man was an incredibly talented Sage, one of the best in Crimea, if not all of Tellius... only in the aspects of Wind and Thunder though; she was still more skilled in the art of manifesting fire but had opened up her books to the other elements as well. As far as they could tell, the art of creating lightning from their surroundings was the only thing that put a decent amount of starting damage on one of the lumbering giants. After the first hit, anyone had the open opportunity to strike forward and deal the last blow, but they were still cautious about approaching it. "Will you permit me the pleasure of calling in for your assistance, m'lady?"

"Since when have you ever needed my assistance?" Calill teased, hinting her playful words with a quick turn of the lips.

"Why, whenever the opportunity is graciously handed to me." he responded in a timely manner, matching her tone perfectly.

"Hey, when you two want to stop flirting, we have some problems we're trying to deal with." Marcia butted in as she pulled her Pegasus back slightly. "When you're through with that Dragon though, we've got a flock of birds flying in on our right that we'd be happy for you to target ahead of time. Janaff and Ulki are flying ahead to slow them down but the sky is filled with them; Astrid will provide cover fire in the meantime but she's also trying to cover Kieran and Geoffrey at the same time."

"We've got Tigers on the right! They're moving in fast!" Lucia shouted out as she hurried past them.

"I've got it!" Zihark called just seconds after her as he broke out of his place and headed towards the approaching pack. "Tauroneo, you busy?"

"I've got all the time in the world." the Marshall nodded, following after the two swordsmen.

Then again, the battlefield was not exactly the best place for a conversation right now. It seemed like everyone was bouncing from one enemy threat to the next without having even a brief second to think about what they were going to do in combat; even she struck beast after beast without completely realizing what she was doing, almost losing control of her fire at one point. But she watched as the Count close to her began to run his way through the tome in hand, progressively charging up the required energy from the majestic words and artfully twisting the power into a beautiful contortion of electricity. It was like the weather-less clouds above them roared with sudden life as he summoned down his own storm of energy and aimed it to strike perfectly on the close giant. The Feral beast spat and released a deep, spine-tingling howl that rang in the back of her head... it was more tragic than anything as its scales seemed to crack and pop from the impact; its massive head was thrown back as a spur of blood escaped from its gaping mouth and formed a crimson mist above it.

But as mighty as the creature had been to approach them, the mightier it fell.

It only took two strikes of thunder to bring the beast down; its form dissipating just before it hit the ground. She supposed that was something they were all kind of glad for, no one wanted to see the crumpled body of a soul that was corrupted far past redemption. It was easier this way. There were less regrets in the matter.

"I tell myself that the ends will justify the means and even then, I have to assure myself of that." Bastian sighed, fingers touching lightly at the space between his eyes for a moment. It only took a few seconds before he seemed to remember what his other duties were at the moment. "Oh goodness, those birds!" it seemed to be more of a reminder to himself before he turned heel and headed in the direction the flock was last reported coming from. It was just on time too as the winged creatures were just showing up over the treetops.

She did hope he was at least careful enough to recognize which ones were Feral and which two were actually on their side.

"Lady Calill, I must call for your assistance for a moment!"

Snapping out of her thoughts, she hurried over to where Tauroneo and Zihark were taking a moment to catch their breath; a new pack of Tigers were slowly lumbering in their direction, freshly risen from the swamp ground. "Sorry about the wait boys, I let myself be distracted." she ushered as a quick apology, wedging herself between the two fighters. She already had the spell memorized in her head and ready at the fingertips for when the Tigers started the last leg of their advancement. Fire cut easily through the moist ground and broke into a wide impact as it struck the pack dead on; she tried to ignore the sound of the flames searing quickly through flesh and tissue, tried to ignore the smell of burning fur and the empty scene that laid behind the disappearing wall of smoke.

"Thank you, you came just in the nick of time." Tauroneo replied with a brief chuckle, one hand moving to wipe the sweat from his forehead. "Not to say that we couldn't have handled ourselves regardless."

"Speak for yourself on that one." Zihark added, sporting the addition of a freshly made cut across his torso; blood had already began to seep from the split flesh and spilled downward to stain his shirt. "Then again, the battle has only started, hasn't it?" a deep sigh escaped from him as he closed his eyes for a moment. "It's going to be a long day."

"Worry not, we'll take it one swing at a time." the Marshall assured as he shifted the weight of his shield for a moment, allowing for it to rest mostly against the ground. "After hearing the rumors of this man though, this battle will be worth it. And see it in this context though, at least we are not battling in the waters like Sir Kieran and Commander Geoffrey."

"I don't know what they expect to gain from that, it's only life-risking to be all the way out there." she remarked, even though she couldn't see where the two of them were right now, due to the trees in front of them... she could still hear the occasional shout they passed to one another. They had a hard enough time trying to keep one another alive right here, where it was faintly secured and there was a least four people watching someone's back. But out there, you were surrounded and there was no one there to help.

"King Tibarn is risking himself in the same manner; we're all risking ourselves by being out here... but there's nothing we can do about it now. When we finish this battle, it will be just another fight closer to getting to the Goddess herself."

"On second thought, I'd rather deal with the Feral Ones instead." Zihark commented, touching lightly at his new wound before he pushed the matter from his attention; noticing the new emerging pack that was headed their way. "At arms, Tauroneo, there's another battle that's awaiting us."

"Call for me if you need help again." Calill offered as she stepped back while the two men went forward to take the approaching figures head on. She figured they would need her help against eventually but she'd give them some time to themselves to work it out.

Zihark did have a point though, one that many of them were probably saying to themselves again and again already. It was certainly going to be a long day.

* * *

><p>The high-pitched shriek echoed clear across the battlefield and nearly pained his ears just to hear it; the call seemed to strive for more than just victory but for an inner battle just the same. He didn't have to see the battle in order to know how it ended... despite Bastian's offer, the Hawk King had failed to keep Izuka alive; instead, there appeared to be only bloody remains in his place. He couldn't blame the Laguz King though, here was the man who was behind countless murders and years of torture for his kinsmen, there was no use risking everything to keep the man alive. If anything, he deserved to kill him.<p>

Panting heavily to himself, he discarded the broken weapon in hand and let it disappear into the water below. His whole body ached and it felt like his right shoulder was either bruised or at least displaced in its socket. A Dragon seemingly appeared out of nowhere and unleashed this massive wall of fire at the both of them; he had managed to get out in time but Kieran wasn't so lucky. The hindquarters of his horse had been scorched and that was enough to put the animal into a frenzy, kicking up water and rampaging around in an attempt to get away from the threat. He ended up getting blindsided by the red-haired man and remembered the feeling of his horse slipping out from beneath him. The both of them disappeared into the swamp water for just a few brief seconds before panic forced them to their feet; the thought of getting attacked at their weakest moment was terrifying, it made them both forget about their slightly mud-covered armor. His uniform was soaked through and it made him cringe to think of how the filthy water got into his open wounds, an infection was bound to be around the corner for him.

But, just like that, the Feral Ones ceased their actions and froze in their spots, as though their very reasoning for being here was wiped clean from their minds. It gave them a break from the battling though, something they were all thankful for... but it also left them with questions of how to fix the new situation.

"Commander, are you alright?" Kieran questioned as he pulled himself over to him; one hand pressed against part of his ribcage. And knowing how the man could seemingly forget about an axe stuck in his own head, the injury he was tending to had to be severe enough for him to notice.

He nodded briefly and moved his fingers to touch lightly at the fresh wounds that scarred over his face, more talon marks to add to his collection. "I'll be fine. Are you okay?"

"It's nothing scathing, in fact I barely notice these injuries, nothing can take down Second-in-Command."

He should've anticipated an answer like that but at least it was a good one. Easing his way through the muddied waters, he worked back towards the dry land where everyone else was waiting with some form of caution. He couldn't blame them though, after a long and exhausting battle like that one with such an uncertain ending, no one knew whether to relax or not. Shaking his head, he tried to ignore the faint pings of pain that rushed across his face as the two of them eventually regrouped with the rest of the army. Dismounting, he moved to find out where the Count had gone and see where they were supposed to go from here.

"Don't even say a thing." Geoffrey started, interrupting Lucia before she could even start to say something. She had that look of mild concern but he knew she was going to make some kind of remark that he didn't want to hear right now. Probably something about his face or his armor or... whatever. "Bastian, where are you?"

"Just around the bend, Geof- Good gracious, by the Goddess' love-"

"Don't start. Just tell me what the hell we're supposed to do from here." he replied, cutting off the Sage.

The man continued to stare for a brief moment longer before he set aside his previous words. "Actually, I was thinking ahead just in case something like this occurred... and I believe I have another option that we can follow-"

"Yes, Sir Bastian, why don't you tell us all about it." Lucia intruded, still clearly upset about their earlier act.

"Please, my lady, don't be upset... I would be tempted to comfort you and be unable to give you the answer you so desire-"

"Cut the talk."

"Lucia, let him talk." Geoffrey remarked. "Please, this is a very serious manner and we don't have time to waste... we're set back enough as it is." she seemed ready to snap at him because of those words but kept herself withdrawn on the reaction; offering them just this one chance to talk about what they needed to discuss. "Alright, what else is there that we can do?"

"I must speak with King Tibarn first, but I believe we'll be able to implement Prince Reyson's Galdr if we time it correctly."

He didn't really know how that was supposed to work but he wasn't exactly in a working mindset right now. He just let Bastian run the scene for now while he tried to back him up when it was necessary... but King Tibarn and Prince Reyson were easy to persuade when faced with the facts. Lucia seemed to have cooled down while Queen Elincia looked on with a mix sense of expressions. But with just the first words of the Galdr, the entire swamp seemed to shift around them; the Feral beings themselves became aware of the song and glanced up briefly with their colorless eyes. Slowly, word by word, the figures began to dissipate once more, this time it seemed to be with a sense of peace instead of capture. For once, the battle proved its worth despite the rough start they had and the struggle it took to get here. It was also at that point though that he realized what the Count had had in mind... if the Galdr could work on the Feral Ones, then maybe they had a chance with curing Sir Renning even without that mad man's antidote.

Everyone seemed to have calmed down once the situation was taken care of and the swamp returned to its eerie, solitary setting. There was just one more thing to do now, but if they wished to get Prince Reyson's help then there was a lot of explaining to be done beforehand.

"Now tell me what this is all about. I'm done playing games with you two." Lucia snapped, crossing her arms over her chest as the army made a slow return back to the initial campsite. The moment they promised to tell everything, she hounded them the entire walk back as though she didn't trust their words in the slightest sense. He supposed she had reason to though, it wasn't like either of them had been completely honest with her as of recently... but they didn't exactly lie, they just didn't tell her a word of the operation going on.

He shook his head at her and watched as Bastian moved ahead to the convoy that still remained where they left it the night before; the guards were still on staff thankfully, although their exhausted looks said that it wasn't an easy thing to manage during their absence. "Just... promise me you're not going to freak out, alright?"

"Shut up Geoffrey."

"You shut up."

"Please, can we just get to the bottom of this?" Elincia requested as she stepped between them to try and separate their argument. "I need to know what has been going on behind my back. I'm certain both you and Sir Bastian have the perfect reasons for keeping this under wraps, but curiosity is beginning to wear thin at this point."

He was pretty certain they were going to change their minds when everything became unveiled. Nodding briefly in agreement, he watched as Bastian gave one more glance back to him before he ushered for the guards to relieve themselves of their posts. Slowly, the one person they had been guarding for months now broke free of his restraints and stormed out into the open. It felt like a stir of coldness swept its way down his spine as he watched the former paladin move in jittered, unstable steps that seemed to question his sense of balance.

"Oh my Goddess..."

"Uncle? Uncle Renning?" Elincia called to the man, stepping forward for a moment before he managed to stop her. "I don't understand... he was... he died..."

The day was only bound to get worse from here...

* * *

><p>She didn't know why the rest of them were advised to head back to camp while Bastian, Geoffrey, Lucia and Queen Elincia went off on a different path, but she figured it wasn't any of her business. There were other things to attend to anyways... like getting a healer to examine this small cut on her arm from when a Cat Laguz managed to break the front line. It wasn't serious but it had been burning for quite some time now. Not to mention she needed to check up on Amy anyways.<p>

"Momma, momma!"

To be honest, she shouldn't have been surprised that the girl managed to catch sight of her so quickly. Smiling lightly, she knelt down and ruffled up her daughter's pigtails. "Sorry about the wait honey, we had to deal with... quite a bit of a mess earlier." she remarked, tucking aside a few loose curls. "I hope I didn't worry you too much."

"No... well maybe a little." Amy confessed before she seemed to notice the fresh cuts on her right arm. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"Oh this? Oh, nothing but a small inconvenience." Calill assured. "I was going to get a healer to look at it and then I'll be good as new."

"Where's Geoffrey? Is he back yet?"

"He's dealing with a few matters with the Queen right now but he'll be back soon enough." she promised as she got back to her feet, dusting off her dress for a moment. "I take it you miss him then?"

"Yeah, don't you?" Amy questioned in return, taking her hand as she followed her through the camp towards the the healer's tent. She kicked lightly at the stones that came into her path along the way.

A light chuckle escaped her at the remark as she tried to formulate a response for the girl; they were technically on the same battlefield just moments before... although they weren't exactly fighting side by side. "I was just with him during the battle, I don't have to be depended on his appearance you know."

"Yeah but... I thought you were supposed to be happy to see the man who was courting you."

"What? Oh no... no, we're not courting each other, honey; we're just... friends, that's all." she tried to correct, although she found herself stumbling over her own words in answer. "He's just very supportive and... you know, I'm glad at how he's looked over you when I couldn't be there... uh, so yes he's just a friend."

The explanation seemed to do little to deter the girl as she merely frowned at the words, continuing to kick at the stones that remained in her way. In a way it seemed she didn't believe a thing she said... not that she really did either though, and there was a lot to be said there. "But I thought you liked him?"

"Well honey, I do but... it's just complicated with the way things are now." Calill answered. "Maybe if we wait till after this whole war is over, then maybe we can see how it goes. There's no promises on the matter but-"

"Calill! Do you have a moment?"

She looked up at the call and watched as Astrid was slowly making her way over to them; the woman had a few cuts on her legs from the same feral Cat but seemed to be having an easier time dealing with them then one would imagine. "Astrid, what can I help you with?"

"I was just doing a run through to see how everyone was doing." the Archer replied. "I know you got hit earlier, so I wanted to see if you had gotten it check on yet."

"Well I was on my way to, but it's really nothing serious." she assured, showing off the few cuts that lined down her forearm. "It'll take a lot more than just a couple of cuts to knock me out after all. Shouldn't you be getting your legs looked at though? You got hit by the same Cat."

"That's what Makalov keeps telling me but I figured since Lucia is preoccupied right now, then someone should step in for her." Astrid returned with a soft chuckle, one hand moving to brush aside a few of her black strands. "Plus, I think it would be best if the healers looked at Kieran first... he didn't look so well when he came back; I mean, I don't know if anyone noticed that but he looked a little roughed up."

She couldn't say that she actually saw the man, maybe only a few small glimpses but that was about it. "Then by all means, he should have their attention. Although... Commander Geoffrey was out there just the same... I wonder if he's injured like that."

"Makalov said he caught a glimpse of him and that it didn't look good, he said the Commander didn't have any serious wounds but they weren't all too great to look at either. I guess we'll just have to see when he gets back with the others."

Yes... yes they would definitely have to see when he returned, wouldn't they?


	7. Chapter 7

At this point, he just wanted to disappear into his tent and not come back out until tomorrow morning.

Needless to say, Queen Elincia and Lucia remained fairly speechless about the whole ordeal... but luck was on their side; Prince Reyson's Galdr was powerful enough to work on Renning despite his minor lack of confidence on the manner. The trouble this morning had been to start was slowly disappearing and now easing easily into a comforting afternoon- for now at least.

Sir Renning was resting now with Bastian keeping an eye on him, ready to start explaining everything the moment the man wanted to hear the elongated tale. King Tibarn was out flying around, making sure to keep an open eye out for any streaks of gold in the forest. The rest of the Royal Knights were keeping up around the camp and taking a break from the battle this morning; he made sure most of them went to see a healer before they settled in. He was advised to do the same but... right now he'd prefer to get out of his armor and change uniforms.

One hand moved to touch the space between his eyes before a streak of pain reminded him why that was a bad idea. He couldn't even begin to count all the scratches he had accumulated within that one battle; it felt like feral Hawk after feral Hawk came right for him one after the other. There was the cut across his right cheek that lead into the open split of his lower lip, that had healed partly with dried blood but had been reopened later on during the fight. He had a massacre of cuts around his right eye from where it seemed like the feral bird was trying to pull it out of its socket; the skin had been forced apart and peeled back if it wasn't already torn away. One of them hit him hard enough it felt like it broke his nose but it ended up just leaving a massive split across it instead. Needless to say, he wasn't exactly happy with the injuries but... he could count his blessings with them. Last he heard from one of the healers and Marcia as well, apparently Kieran managed to break three of his ribs on his right side and displace two more; there wasn't much they could do about it now asides from give him something for the pain. He had been ordered to stay stationary for awhile to reduce the risk of a loose rib puncturing an organ.

When compared to that, a few swollen cuts weren't that bad to deal with.

Fingers moved to unclip the straps of his armor as he removed them piece by piece; letting them dress the floor of his tent for now... he would have to clean them later anyways. His belt was the next to go as he moved down to the carefully placed guards on his legs; touching briefly at the long gash that split his shin open. A minor wound. Loosening the collar of his shirt, he eased it off the best he could without disturbing the open wound on his right shoulder- another easy spot for the birds to strike at. If a few feral Hawks could do this kind of damage... he'd hate to see the full extent that King Tibarn himself could do; although, he did seem to possess the strength and power to rip a Beorc male to pieces. Which, that alone, was a frightening thought.

There were a few more bruises that lined down against his right side from the collision in the swamp, nothing more the discolored marks though- even if they did hinder his movements just ever so slightly.

"I didn't get the chance to tell you before, but you look messed up."

A deep groan pressed itself from his bloodied lips at the remark before he slowly forced himself around to face the matching blue-haired woman who had invited herself in. "Thanks. I'm surprised you were able to restrain yourself so well."

"Yeah well, thanks to you, I had other things to keep me preoccupied." Lucia remarked, catching another frown on his lips. He had cuts all over his face it would seem, some mild bruising showed up around his jawline and a tint of redness covered the injuries. "You should let a healer look at those."

"They're not that bad, besides I'd prefer if they were keeping an eye on Kieran instead; with those busted ribs we won't be able to travel anytime soon... and I'm not going to risk bringing him into battle with those either." Geoffrey started.

"At least... let them clean those out, they've got to be infected by now." she replied. "And it's really hard to focus on what you're saying, it really kind of messed up-"

"I get it."

"Although I guess some people would consider it an improvement-"

"Lucia, get out."

The woman only laughed at his reaction and started to step out. "I'm going to go speak with Bastian for awhile, if you need me I'll be over there. Unless you want me to help with your cuts-"

"I don't want you anywhere near me to be quite honest. I think if I can handle Bastian and handle the account with Sir Renning for three years, then I am easily capable of cleaning out my own wounds." he assured, watching as she looked like she was about to press the topic further. "Just... go talk to Bastian, I think you made him feel upset earlier with how angry you were and he took it personally."

"He's just sensitive." she replied over her shoulder just before she disappeared outside.

Why did she have to be so difficult to deal with sometimes? She was always acting like he couldn't defend himself or take care of himself... acting like the older sibling she was; but he had yet to get kidnapped by some crazy maniac, so he still had that on her. Shaking his head, he brushed one hand through his hair before he moved back to the bag of supplies that was half-tossed onto the cot behind him. He had packed a few bottles of Vulnerary earlier- or at least Lucia insisted that he keep a few with him at all times; he guessed, for once, her sense of worry and being overbearing actually worked out for him. Not that he could really deny that he didn't do the same thing in return, when she left earlier for that 'espionage' mission of hers, he had gone out of his way to drop a few extra healing mixtures into her bag.

Getting a spare rag from nearby, he had probably packed it to use it to clean his armor, but his wounds were a little more serious than that right now. Briefly soaking the white material with the light-blue liquid, he moved to press the rag against the open gash of his shoulder; bracing himself for the resulting burn... which was quick to follow. Sometimes it seemed like the healing process caused more pain and discomfort than the original wound did but it was always for the best, right? It hurt a lot less than a massive infection or surgery. He paced back and forth across his tent to keep his mind off the stilling burn as the medicine did what it could for the disgusting injury. Alright so... where did they stand right now? It was one more battle done but how many more were ahead of them? They weren't all too far from the Begnion capital though, so they had a good chance of avoiding any more conflicts from here to there- or at least that's what he was hoping for. The overall situation and ongoing fights weren't helping anyone; it was easy to see the group moral slowly dropping with every lingering battle, knowing well that if they took out one golden soldier, another one would simply rise to take it's place. They didn't have the luxury of that. If one of them died, that was it... Goddess, it would be a terrible feeling to lose someone this close to the end and that was just going off the basis that they would succeed at whatever the hell it was that they were doing.

This was Ashera they were going against, what the hell were they thinking?

Sometimes he wanted to curse himself for casting such doubts over everything, but he was almost certain they were all thinking the same thing.

"Ooh... you do look bad."

For the love of that same Ethereal being- "Lucia, for the last time-" he started as he turned back towards the tent's entrance, stopping himself in mid-sentence when he realized it wasn't his blue-haired sister, who he was expecting, but rather the blonde-haired Sage instead. "Uh... nevermind. Sorry about that, Lucia's just been... hassling me for most of the hour, I thought she came back for round two."

She offered a lightly mused smile and watched as he seemed to be a little put off by his sudden reaction; it was a little easier to focus on the cuts that ran across his face rather than become distracted by the fact he was shirtless... just a few feet from her. "I understand, you know she was worried about you during your absence; she missed out on a lot of bullying I suppose."

"I'd believe it." he briefly muttered to himself before he peeled aside the rag for a moment, watching as fresh spots of blood were already pushing through. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"I just thought I'd drop by and check in on you- Amy insisted." Calill answered, eventually letting the open tent flap slowly close behind her. "But... it does look like I could lend some assistance to you."

He paused briefly at her words and tried to find a suitable response. "It's fine, they're just minor wounds-"

"Nonsense. To be honest, in all of my experience, I can tell you that most men don't know how to care of their own injuries- no offense." she remarked as she made her way over to him; fingers carefully pulling away at the soaked material. She couldn't hide the slight cringe at the sight of the wound, the skin easily peeled away in layers to reveal the red muscle throbbing underneath. Most of the blood seemed to have dried against the skin around it, but new red droplets were pushing themselves up through the broken, momentary seal. "Come on, we'll just play this by my rules, alright?"

Before he could even so much as get another word in, he felt the way she pushed back against him and eventually forced him back across the tent; easing him down on the edge of the cot, she stood in front of him as fingers lightly touched the bruising skin around the open gash. He tried not to notice that the new positions put him almost at the level of her breasts as he moved to focus his eyes somewhere else. "How exactly would you know that most men can't fix their own injuries?"

She hummed lightly at the question as she lightly dabbed the stained rag against the wound, just enough to clean away the new trails of blood. "Well, I run a bar for one thing, I've seen the stupid things men do to disregard an injury; I've also had to dabble in some medical knowledge when things get too heated and the alcohol's too tempting. I don't like tending to strangers as anything else more than a bartender but... I don't exactly want to be known as the 'Death Bar' or anything. It's all about reputation and words after all." covering the wound once more, she pressed down against it just enough to simulate some sense of pressure on the broken flesh.

It was difficult to ignore the irritating rush of pain that escaped the motion, but he tried to distract himself with other thoughts. "I guess I forget sometimes that you're more than just a Fire Sage, that you actually have a different life outside of the battlefield."

"Well, I can't say it's as fun or stimulating but... it's something to keep me busy." she remarked, noting the light tremor that passed underneath her touch. "I'm sure without the thrill of battle, you get bored enough just milling around in the palace."

A brief chuckle escaped him at her response and he glanced over as she removed the rage once more and checked on the injury for a second time; it didn't seem any different to him but he supposed she figured there were other injuries to tend to and that she would just come back to it. "I can't really deny that. You can't compare running headfirst down the battlefield to... escorting Elincia to yet another meeting."

"I guess we're all just in the same boat then." she replied, matching his light chuckle with her own. She moved her fingers to brush aside a few of his dark bangs and held them back as she took a second look to examine the cuts that tore across his face. She settled on the multiple ones that carved out the skin around his right eye, small shreds of flesh still hung on to the dried cuts; it almost looked like his eyelid was barely still intact as the skin around it showed signs of minor swelling. In the lack of proper words, it was disgusting and there was probably already some kind of infection settling in. "... They really got you out there..."

"Yeah, I can tell by your face that it's probably not a pretty sight." he responded, catching the way she seemed to frown lightly at being spotted. "Rest assured, I can take care of these injuries no problem-"

"Please, just because it is rather... grotesque, doesn't mean I have a weak stomach." she interrupted before she reached over and picked up the already opened bottle of vulnerary; folding the rag a few times so it fit into a smaller square, she poured more of the healing liquid over it and set the near empty bottle aside. "This is going to hurt but... just try not to move."

It was probably pointless to say that this wasn't even the most serious injury he had suffered but he let her deal with the matter on her own. Yeah, the liquid definitely burned as she lightly pressed it against the first gash just below the corner of his eye and held it for a few seconds, but it wasn't the worst thing he had dealt with. She was trying her best not to cause anymore discomfort though and he had to take that into account as she slowly moved onto the next cut- burning it just the same as the last. He could feel the fumes of the liquid seemingly sinking into his eye and making it water, which was probably more annoying than the injuries themselves. "You know, I didn't really figure you to be the healing type."

"Yes well, again when you manage a bar it kind of changes everything." she nodded, trying to leave each cut with a even coat of the blue liquid before she moved onto the next; she could tell by the slight tension in his jaw and the small pull of the muscles in his neck that the wounds still had some working nerves underneath them and that the healing mixture only burned into the open receptors. "And then, you know, having a young daughter is another thing. A day of fun outside also leads to scrapped knees, cut up elbows, a small cut on the face that no one knows how it got there... all the things that kids do. But you want to know the difference between treating drunks and treating kids? Kids have the decency to say thank you when you're done and they look at you like you just saved their life."

"I think we all remember when we were kids and just a simple bruise seemed like it would be the end of the world for you."

"Isn't that the truth." she mused as she finished the last of the lower gashes before she went over them just once more to ensure a decent cleaning job. The cuts that carved down over his eyelid would provided some difficulty in treating, there was a higher chance of getting some of the mixture into the soft tissue of his eye instead. She managed to get him to tilt his head back slightly as she tried to place the rag a little higher up to displace a possible run off. "Plus... you know, in those old fairy tale stories, someone has to take care of the chivalrous knight, right?"

"I guess that depends on whatever kind of book you're reading." he replied, knowing at this point that the higher gashes were far more sensitive than the rest as they started throbbing at just the hint of the medicine.

That was true, she supposed, they had just been fairy tales after all; they were entertaining but always created that false facade of what to expect. "I guess you're right, but they still entertain Amy and sometimes they're the only way I can get her to sleep, so they're still fine by me."

He supposed he couldn't say that he was surprised by that... the young girl seemed like the type to fall in love with those twisted, romantic stories that all started and ended the same. And it would seem at this very moment that he'd remember everything she had said to him, all the same things that Bastian nit-picked and teased him about. This probably wasn't the best time to bring it up, but it had practically been rotting away on his chest for some time now. "You know, speaking of Amy..."

She paused briefly at his words before they seemed to click finally in the back of her head, causing her to briefly pull the slightly bloodied rag away from his face. "What did she say this time? She has a habit of... I don't know, not thinking about anything before she says them?"

Normally he would have agreed but she seemed to have thought out everything she told him- almost to the point as though she had planned it. "It wasn't anything serious, just a small comment she made when we found her..." and there it dropped out, that last minute panic that told him that he shouldn't have brought up the topic in the first place- always arriving too late to change his words.

She waited for him to finish but noticed that sudden change of demeanor, as though he caught himself just before he was about to make a mistake. Her curiosity was already leveled at this point and knowing how much time the two had spent together, she was a little worried for what the girl might've said... Oh sweet Goddess. She was almost certain the color probably drained from her face as one small possible option hit her, probably the only one she could think of that would've caused for the Commander to hesitate in finishing his sentence. "She didn't... mention anything about..." and here the words were stumbling on her tongue just the same, making her just as silent as he was. "You uh..."

"Being a second father." he finished, watching as the color seemed to further drain from her face. "... Yeah, she did mention that."

Oh Amy.

A heavy sigh escaped from her lips and she shook her head partly at the thought of it. "I don't know what's gotten into her about that concept-"

"Wait, wait... so this isn't the first time she's mentioned it?" he questioned, catching the way she seemed to almost hesitate slightly with the answer. He really shouldn't have been surprised by it actually... he had no doubts that the girl would have brought it up with probably a few times at least. What would've been a sigh to match her own seemed to break into a partial chuckle instead, not that he really knew why the reaction suddenly came up.

"Ha ha... yes, I suppose I could see how the situation would be deemed humorous." she started.

He moved to touch at the space between his eyes before wincing away as he fell for the same trick twice now. "No, no it's just... I don't know, I can't really explain it. Maybe she just sees something that we can't."

"Well, I have no doubts that her imagination would lead to such a thing." she remarked before she noticed how blood started to bubble out from that split across the bridge of his nose. "Oh, you do have to be careful with that." she was quick to place the rag lightly against the injury in hopes to cease the blood flow before it could start all over again. "... I guess I'll have to have another talk to her about it. Although I am curious, what did you tell her when she mentioned it?"

"I didn't really have a chance to say anything, she caught me off-guard with it but it gave Bastian some new material to play with; those few days with him were pure hell over it."

"That is Sir Bastian for you, isn't it?" she chuckled, briefly moving the rag to clean up the blood streams that managed to trickle out from beneath her touch.

"He said that I would be perfect for the job."

This was probably one of those moments where it was safer if she didn't say anything but the conversation had already gotten this far, there was no sense in trying to stop it. "I have no doubt about that, I mean you've saved her twice now and she absolutely adores you, that's more than most fathers can say right? ... I guess it's kind of a good sign then right? At least she's moving on and being positive about it, I just wish she didn't have that headstrong kind of attitude with it." a light chuckle passed her once more before she peeled the rag aside to look at the deep cut underneath it. "On another note though, I think your nose might be broken."

"I'm pretty sure it's just swollen."

"I can see the bone- you know, this is really deep." she pressed, watching as he went to touch the wound once more before she stopped him. "Hey, hey, don't touch it... you'll probably get it even more infected than it already is. To be honest, I think you're going to need something stronger to clean these out."

"I might have something else with me." he started as he turned for a moment to look through his bag once more, trying not to strain at the dark bruises that ran down his ribcage. "I know I keep bringing this up but... what exactly do you tell Amy when she brings that topic up?"

She watched as he shuffled through his bag for a moment before he pulled out another bottle; this one had an almost green color to it and she thought it looked like an elixir. "So far I haven't really given her a definite answer, I just tell her we'll talk about it later and she doesn't bring it up again. That is until something or someone else reminds her about it; I think she's beginning to catch on to me though." she waited as he turned back towards her and shook the bottle slightly to test the consistency, fingers touching at the open wound once more. "Hey, what did I say?"

On second thought, there was a good possibility it was broken; he thought it was just swollen- which it was but this was almost split clean through the cartilage. He swore he heard a cracking noise when the Hawk hit him, but he had just assumed it was the talon instead. He felt her grab at his wrist and pull it away from the open wound, a serious expression etched on her face. "I was just... checking it."

"Commander Geoffrey, if I have to hold you down in order to get you to stop touching that wound, I will." she warned as she pulled his hand further away from his face. She watched as he seemed to take heed to the words, for now anyways.


	8. Chapter 8

He took a brief moment to take her words into consideration- and erase the mental images that quickly sprang to mind just seconds after they had finished. "I didn't really take you for being that type of person, Lady Calill."

A slight flush in her cheeks noted that she too seemed to be slightly taken back that she had uttered those words to him; his return comment probably didn't help all too much either. She recovered far quicker than he did though and only moved to press the still wet rag against the open cut in response. He didn't get a chance to catch the motion beforehand and couldn't stop the brief hiss of pain that escaped from his bloodied lips.

"Okay, okay... forget I said anything." he retracted as the throbbing quickly returned and spread itself across his face; he managed to pull his wrist free from her grasp and moved to cover her hand with his own. "Goddess damnit, that hurt a lot worse than I thought it would."

Now she felt just a tiny bit of regret for the action, especially after catching his pained reaction and noting how quickly the blood seemed to drain from his face. She just kind of... panicked for a moment and couldn't figure out what else to do; with the wound just sitting out in the open, it seemed like a decent choice to do. "I told you it was broken."

"Believe me, I trust you now."

The slight tightening of his grip brought her attention to how his fingers had partly invaded the space between her own; she didn't know if the motion had been intentional or not, but he certainly moved his hand to her own like he knew what he wanted. Maybe it had been to remove the burning rag from the wound or to take back the cleaning process... either or it seemed as though he had forgotten about his own motive and just simply kept it there. Not that she was complaining so to say, if anything, at least his strength was still with him despite the battle this morning and whatever else he had to deal with in the last week or so. And that was good. She made a motion to pull the rag back for a moment and watched as his hand quickly dropped away from her own to allow the movement. Tucking one hand against his jawline, she leaned down to get a closer look at the wound and grimaced once more at the sight of it; despite the clean cut of it... it was still rather grotesque. "This will definitely need stitches if you can't get a healer to look at it; it might even be a little difficult for them to piece it back together to be honest. As for the break itself, there's nothing we can really do about it right now. You'll probably have to wait for the whole thing to heal completely first and then... break it again I suppose, and pray that it sets itself back straight."

"I think I'll be okay with a little unevenness." he admitted, trying not to show even the slightest amount of discomfort he felt with her being so close. He hadn't really been anticipating for her to get so close and didn't really have a way of distracting himself from it this time. Maybe if he just kept his focus on the wound itself, then- no that really wasn't working. "Believe me, I've had my share of scars and broken bones, after awhile you realize when you command a fighting unit, it's hard to keep up with appearances; I'm kind of surprised I've gotten this far without some kind of facial mangling."

"So you're saying this doesn't count?" she questioned.

"I wouldn't really count it, no."

She was just going to keep her opinion to herself then. "I'm sure it'll heal just... fine." she tried to assure, repositioning the damp rag to press against his split cheek now; noting that blood had already dried down along his jawline at this point. If he got these injuries taken care of now, then the chances of scar tissue forming was minimum- he would probably still have a few knots of it around his eye and across his nose but those couldn't really be helped. Then again, maybe it was for the best if a Commander like himself had a wide variety of scars, that just meant he was doing his job correctly, right? "Any idea on when we're going to start traveling again?"

"Probably by tomorrow morning, not that I really want to think about it at this moment." he started. "We're on a schedule with this thing but I don't want to risk moving the injured that we have; I don't think Kieran will be up for a long journey, despite what he says."

"I'm sure everyone will be looking forward to more days on the road." she chuckled lightly as she pulled the cloth back for a moment before she moved it to clean off the dried trails of blood on his jaw. "It is entertaining to listen to everyone's conversations though- personally, I think Astrid has some of the best ones." she moved to press the thin material against the blood of his lower lip but stopped when he flinched at the motion. "Sorry, I got a little sidetrack there."

"It's fine, I just keep reopening the wound and making it worse." he replied, moving to push her touch away for a moment as he tasted the metallic hint of blood in his mouth again. "I'm surprised it's still attached..."

She winced slightly before she leaned in a little closer to see the injury. "Now I remember why everyone was so glad to have the Hawks on our side... because this is disgusting."

He chuckled briefly and moved to push her hand away, managing to pull the rag from her grasp. "You don't have to humor me by staying around; you're all the more welcome to leave."

"It's fine, I want to be here." she quickly intersected before she had the chance to catch herself. "Helping, I mean."

"I apologize, but am I interrupting something here?"

He glanced up at the intruding voice and easily spotted the blonde-haired Count standing in the now open flap of his tent; his first thought wondered how long the man had been standing there... not that they were doing anything incriminating... but he knew he was going to hear something about it. "No... no, Lady Calill was just helping me with these injuries. Is there something you need me for?"

"I hope you don't mind me having to borrow Commander Geoffrey once more, but... well Sir Renning is awake and he wishes to speak now." Bastian answered.

"Already?" Geoffrey questioned, watching as the Count nodded in answer. But they... he just... it couldn't have been more than an hour or two, unless he just somehow managed to lose track of time. Letting out a heavy sigh, he pushed himself to his feet and listened to the rather painful crackling of his body at the motion. Those were definitely bruised ribs, another diagnosis he was wrong about. "Alright, give me a few minutes." he watched as the man gracefully bowed back outside before he turned his attention back to the other Sage. "I uh... this is really important and it's probably going to take a few hours to deal with."

While she was curious about the whole thing... she didn't feel as though it was her place to question it. "You don't have to explain yourself to me, Commander." she assured. "Just... get a healer to look at those cuts when you're done; I don't think I'm doing much for them."

"Yeah, that would probably be for the best." he agreed before he moved to take the second shirt he had set out just before the woman had arrived in the first place; slipping into it with a slight sense of difficult as it only pulled at the gash on his shoulder. There was no sense to get back into his armor, he was only meeting with Sir Renning after all... which was going to be quite an engagement. Excusing himself, he stepped out after the Count and nearly ran into him just a few steps later. "Alright well... let's get this over with."

The rest of the camp seemed almost deserted as most of the small army had disappeared into their tents to get some rest; the battle this morning had not been an easy one but it was only bound to get worse from here. A few people stayed seated around the small fires that were keeping a couple of coffee pots warm, their conversations were light and quiet as though they were only talking to break the silence. Even with this many people in one area, the silence was still almost overbearing, nearly suffocating all of them with its twisted grasp. And yet, a single word spoken felt like it could echo onward for miles in all directions.

Bastian didn't really let on anymore than what he said before, which only made him more worried about the situation. What exactly were they supposed to tell Sir Renning? That he was taken over by Daein and forced to fight against his own niece in battle; that after his loss, they managed to capture him and keep him somewhat safe while they tried to track down a cure for his disease-riddled mind. It took them three years to do so and when they found the man who caused it, they lost him and then watched him get ripped to pieces without so much of a word for the cure... but then again, he was cured regardless in the end, so it didn't really matter anymore. He just... he used to hold Sir Renning in such high regards; he was supposed to take over the Crimean throne after the King passed on and he was ranked as one of the best on the field. He remembered reading all sorts of passages and news clippings about Sir Renning's accomplishments and victories, he told himself that he wanted to find that kind of honor just the same.

But right now... it didn't even feel like he was close to it.

"You know, Lady Calill-"

"Bastian."

"She's a very fine woman, and very skilled on the battlefield-"

"Stop."

"She would make a beautiful wife for you."

He stopped for a moment and looked down at the Count, who continued on for a few feet as though in hopes to escape the would be encounter. Recalling previous moments though, he simply moved to step on the end of of his cape and watched as the slight jerk was enough to cause the man to stop. He had to give the man credit where it was due though, he was very persistent and could bring it up on a dime. "I don't know what you want me to say about this whole matter, but you're not helping it."

"Well... what do you want to say about it?" the man countered.

Did he really have to have a return question? His mind seemed to fumble for an answer, possibly causing a pocket of silence that was far too large to recover from. "I just want this war to be done with... and then I'll try to figure something out."

"But you don't object to anything that I previously said." Bastian recalled, watching as the words only seemed to further the Commander's issue of silence. "Love has always been deeply engraved across the battlefield, it's been going on for centuries now... it's nothing new. Why, when I see Lady Lucia dance with her sword-"

"Stop, just stop... Lucia's my sister; you can't say things like that in front of me." Geoffrey interrupted, catching how the reaction only seemed to provoke the man to laugh. "Now please, we're supposed to be dealing with Sir Renning here so... let's just get back to that and leave this conversation behind us. I don't really have the patience for it right now."

"Oh, but she seemed so caring while she was gently tending to her wounded soldier-"

* * *

><p>She sighed to herself when the Commander finally left and moved to clean up the mess of cleaning supplies everywhere; gently placing the bottles back in their bag while she tossed the rag elsewhere to dry. Smoothing out her dress, she carefully exited the tent and started to move back through the camp. It was overcome by silence once more but that wasn't really anything new... with Kieran probably passed out from the broken ribs, there was no one else to cause noise and mayhem. Everyone else seemed to be taking the down time to rest their aching bones and relieve themselves of their war torn troubles.<p>

She couldn't blame them; it's been a tough tour for everyone involved.

"Calill, what are you still doing up?" she looked up at the question and spotted the black-haired Archer not too far from her; she was probably the only figure sitting around the second fire they still had going on. A small cup was nestled between her hands while all of her armor had easily been cast aside to reveal the short white dress and blue over tunic she wore underneath it; a pair of white stockings clung easily to her slim legs, which one of them was still wrapped in light bandages. "I thought you had gone back to sleep hours ago."

"I wish I had." she chuckled as she made her way over to the woman instead; taking the open seat next to her. "Unfortunately, I can't sleep so easily like that."

"Same here." Astrid nodded, holding the cup close to her face just to feel the warm steam. "I figured I didn't want to disturb Makalov, so I decided to come out here and enjoy the air for a little while. But... it seems like the silence is only making the air feel... stale almost."

"It does feel different, but soon enough we'll be at the Goddess tower and finally bring this whole war to an end." Calill offered. "Which, I cannot wait for. I have an inn I'm supposed to be rebuilding and unfortunately enough, I suppose those orders I put in are now lost out there somewhere." she heard the Archer offer a slight chuckle at the response. "That's the first thing on my list when this whole thing is over."

"At least you have something planned." the woman smiled. "That'll make the transition a lot easier when this mess is behind us."

"It's not a whole lot but it'll be something to keep me busy; not to mention, I promised Queen Elincia that I would host a party there when the ordeal with Lucia was over... I guess now I'll just have to bump it back and say whenever it's remodeled." Calill chuckled, tucking aside a loose blonde strand before she looked over to the other woman. "What about you? I'm sure you've got to have something planned right?"

The Archer was usually a quiet person and kept to herself a lot of the times but if you caught her at the right time, she was all the more open and friendly. A slight blush seemed to work its way across her pale cheeks as she offered a light shrug in response; dropping her eyes to the cup in front of her. "Well... it's not official yet but... we were thinking when this mess was over and Crimea was back on its feet that... Makalov and I would take a break from the Royal Knights for a little while; we've been thinking of finally settling down and starting a family. It's not official yet but I mean... we've been talking about it more as of lately."

"A family?" she repeated, as though the thought of it was still odd to try and imagine. The mental image of little pink-haired, red-eyed children running around was a little frightening to think about, but suiting just the same for the couple. "Well, you two have been married for years now, I guess most people would consider you guys to be behind schedule. Was there anything that... provoke this idea?"

There was a momentary pause of silence before the woman chuckled lightly in defeat. "Well, I got a letter before we deployed that said my eldest sister, Enid, just had her third child and my other sister, Tara, was expecting her first... and Penelope was trying for one as well; I don't know, I guess you could say I was a little jealous or that I didn't want to get left behind on the matter." Astrid admitted as she brushed her fingers through her black locks. "My parents really don't talk to me anymore but my sisters have been questioning me about it too, so that probably just added to the pressure. But, you know, we have been married for three years and... there's really nothing holding us back, with the exception of this war; we both get decent paychecks so that's not an issue... like I said, it's still in discussion but... it would be nice to have a baby or two."

"Well just think, you could use Marcia as a babysitter." Calill offered before she seemed to catch herself on the matter. "On second thought, if you're ever desperate, I suppose I wouldn't mind watching over a few."

"Ha ha, we considered Marcia once before, but we figured she'd be too grossed out to help." she laughed, sipping lightly at the lukewarm coffee in her cup. "I mean... I know you have Amy, but have you ever thought about having a baby of your own?"

The weight gain, the heightened sense of discomfort, swollen ankles, morning sickness throughout the day, sleepless nights and then having to take care of a infant afterwards... it wasn't exactly something for her. She chuckled and shook her head as she leaned back slightly. "Well you know, Largo and I had discussed it once before- but it was only once, and then we decided to adopt Amy instead. I just don't think that kind of commitment is all too suiting for me; I know, it sounds selfish because most woman are expected to have babies but... adopting is just so much easier."

"I... I probably shouldn't have brought that up, I'm sorry."

She waved one hand lightly to interrupt the apology. "It's alright, I'm not one to linger on the past. If there's one thing I've learned, sometimes you just have to love fast and regret nothing in the aftermath of it."

"That sounds like appropriate advice." Astrid nodded. "It reminds me of Makalov and myself... and how my parents don't approve. But, there's no time for regrets now and days, right? In times like this, we're not guaranteed tomorrow."

"Exactly... so, you could always go and start on that family right now." Calill offered, watching as the remark caused for the woman to rush a bright red, almost causing her to choke on her coffee.

"What? No... people would hear us!"

Her reaction was priceless and she couldn't help herself from laughing at the woman. The two of them combined probably woke someone up in the camp but it was all for good reasons at least; humor would be good for the both of them. "It would not be the first time I've heard a series of bumps in the night." she added, watching as it only furthered the woman's blush.

"Well, if we're all about living with no regrets then... why haven't you said anything to Commander Geoffrey yet?" Astrid questioned.

It was her turn to share the same kind of crimson flush across her cheeks as she pressed her lips together momentarily. "Because... he's a very busy man, that's why."

"Wasn't it you who said there was no time for regrets?"

Of course, using her words against her was a formable act, because if she tried to deny it then that would make her seem like a liar- and she wasn't. It took a few brief moments before she allowed for a soft chuckle to pass her. "That's true, I can't go against my own words. To be honest, I just don't want to prove to Amy that she's been right this entire time; it's a private matter and I know, without a doubt, that if she found out, then she'd go and tell everyone who would listen- willingly or not. It's just going to take some time for us to figure this out... and I would like for it to remain as a private matter until otherwise."

"It probably wasn't my place to bring it up but... I just noticed that you were looking at him in the same manner that I look at Makalov; and if it's anything like that then... it's gotta mean something special." Astrid replied before she leaned back and dumped out the remaining contents of her cup into the dirt patch behind her. "Have you guys... said anything about it?"

"We haven't even talked about it, for all I know this is just one big delusional dream that's going to pop sometime soon." Calill answered. "Everytime one of us is about to start something, someone else comes in and interrupts the whole thing; we never get the chance to bring it up again."

"I guess this whole war against the Goddess thing is putting the two of you into an awkward position. Maybe when it's over, you two can clear things up."

She nodded briefly and moved to smooth out a few wrinkles in her dress. "Why don't we make a deal? You don't tell Amy about this whole... ordeal with us and I won't tell Marcia about your baby."

The Archer drew in a deep breath and slowly let it out before she nodded; chuckling to herself once more. "You got yourself a deal that I can't risk breaking."

"Same here."


	9. Chapter 9

"How did this happen? I turned my back for two minutes." Lucia questioned as she tried to keep a slightly melting handful of ice pressed against the wind Sage's face; the thin material she had to hastily get and wrap around the ice was easily soaked and did little to provide comfort for the man. "And why didn't I notice this till now?"

"Because you sat on his other side." Geoffrey answered, catching the slight death glare she shot towards him. The three hours it took to speak with Sir Renning about lost time and complicated ordeals gave the fresh injury easy time to swell up slightly; it wasn't even that serious but it had managed to slightly enflame his lower eyelid and almost forced him to keep his left eye closed. "It must've been some kind of terribly timed accident."

"An 'accident' would be delicate way of putting it." Bastian remarked before he moved to take over where the swordswoman was pressing the ice a little too harshly against his eye. "It was only a mere joke between Geoffrey and I that... turned on the wrong side of a raven's wing."

The woman only frowned at the both of them and moved her eyes slowly from one to the next before she eventually gave up on it. "You two are shameless; can we at least try to remember that we are fighting another force here and we don't need to be fighting each other?"

"Whatever you say, _mom_."

That only earned him another glare before the woman eventually stood up and brushed her hands over her uniform. "I'm going to go speak with Elincia for a short while- you two separate yourselves."

He watched as she turned away and walked off across the camp; it was easy to tell that she was irritated just by the way she walked with her shoulders stiffly pulled back and her arms nearly locked at her sides. She would just have to get over it though. Sighing, he turned back to where the Sage was tending to his swollen eye. "In my defense, I gave you plenty of warnings."

"Yes well, in my defense, I was not expecting my long, dedicated friend to snap so easily under pressure." Bastian replied, although he kept that almost victorious-like grin on his face. "Especially under the topic of a lovely lady we all know so well."

"Bastian, how much do you like your other eye?"

"Oh dear, look at the time, I should be... keeping Sir Renning company." he started as he pushed himself to his feet and away from the crate boxes they had stacked aside earlier. "You should... see a healer. For your face, Sir Geoffrey."

He let the man walk away without further injury this time and decided to wait a moment or two to get himself back together. It just felt like a rush of things were trying to drown him right now... They would be reaching the Goddess Tower within just a few mere days, they would probably be a little late on getting there but as long as they regrouped with the others, timing wouldn't matter. Sir Renning was pretty adamant about fighting in the final battle and any attempt to try and derail him was easily shot down. Who were they trying to kid though? They would need someone like Renning on the field with them; hell, the two of them had even set up a brief challenge to see who would fight at Queen Elincia's side. When he tried to say that he had been doing so for almost five years now, Renning only retorted that he had been fighting since the day of her birth... and he couldn't really compete with that. Maybe he should just let the man have the position- he was her Uncle after all and he had been believed to be dead for three years now... but he couldn't just let himself lose easily in a challenge. It would do the man some good to have a decent opponent at least and he didn't want to run the risk of possibly disrespecting him either. No one knew how the final battle would go down though, no one knew how to prepare for it or what to expect, it wasn't like anything like this was written down. The closest thing they had to a recent war was the Mad King's War and no one wanted to talk about that anymore. This one though... this would go down in history books. The whole conflict between Daein and Begnion, and then Crimea getting dragged into the middle of it just before Begnion's seat of power was split clean in two between the Senate and the Apostle herself. And let's not forget the whole waking up the Goddess and facing her predestined wrath.

This would certainly be an ending to look forward to.

They would all either succeed and do the impossible or they would all fail miserably and face the consequences of death in these next few days.

Brilliant.

"Geoffrey? Are you busy?"

He snapped himself out of his thoughts at the question and moved to push himself to his feet; glancing around briefly to see who had posed the words before he noticed the green-haired Queen walking towards him. "Not at all, I was just taking a moment to myself. Is there something I can help you with?"

"I was wondering if you had seen Lucia." Elincia started before she stopped herself in mid-step at the notice of his visible injuries. "Oh my Godde-... how long have you had those injuries? Are those from this morning? Why haven't you had anyone take care of those?"

"Actually, I was cleaning them earlier-"

"Here, I have a spare staff in my tent, let me heal those for you." she interrupted as she stepped forward to take his hand before she moved to pull him along behind her before he even had a chance to disagree.

"Elincia, it's fine, I assure you." he replied, feeling the way her grip tightened to prove to him that she wasn't going to let him go regardless of what he said. It would just be a losing battle to try and tell her otherwise, which left him with no choice but to go along with her. Wasn't Lucia supposed to be with her already though? "About Lucia actually, she was going to go find you so she's probably already at your tent by now."

"Oh well... that's good then."

Damnit, he was hoping it would distract her in some way, but that didn't look like it was going to happen. Then again, he should've known better than to think otherwise. At least his injuries would be getting healed though right? But... he didn't want to be isolated with Elincia right now, especially after the matter with Sir Renning... he didn't think he could come up with any answers in the case that she had questions. She did have a right to know about the whole case though, he just didn't want to be put on the spot with it. Maybe he should just man up about it though. He tried to keep up with her quick footsteps though as she pulled him along with her before she moved to duck into her marked tent.

"Elincia, where have you been? I came looking for you." Lucia started, apparently having made herself comfortable on the available cot in there.

"And I came looking for you." Elincia replied, offering a brief chuckle on the situation. "Now tell me why you would let Geoffrey walk around with these kind of injuries?"

"I thought they were an improvement."

"And you wonder why I've been avoiding you all day." he retorted.

"You do that anyways."

"I'm still amazed you two continue to play these kinds of games." Elincia remarked, finally releasing his hand from her grasp as she moved over to where a few small chests were resting. Hands pulled away at the decorative capes she had tossed over the chests earlier to reveal where she had set her healing staff. "But I guess that's just how you guys function-" turning back around, she paused slightly at the sight of the two attempting to smother one another with the provided pillows. "Can't this at least wait until after I'm done healing?"

He managed to overthrow the swordwoman's minor advantage and pin the pillow down against her upper body, allowing her some room to retain her breathing. "Were you saying something, Elincia?"

She partly frowned at their interaction as Lucia managed to swing out with her arms and nail a pretty decent hint against his ribs, forcing him to release her. "Okay, if you just wait until after I'm done healing, you two can beat each other up as much as you want- just not in my tent, please."

Pulling herself free, Lucia shook her head slightly before she tossed the pillow in hand at her brother. "Sounds like a deal to me- unless Commander Geoffrey has other plans to attend to, perhaps beating up Count Bastian again."

"Is Lady Lucia actually showing concern for Count Bastian's health?" he replied, watching the way she frowned at the remark.

"That's quite alright, I do enjoy speaking to myself."

He sighed and decided to let the matter drop this once, figuring it probably wasn't in their best intentions to ignore their Queen as such. Sometimes it was just hard to pay attention to the other people when the both of them were too busy enacting the usual sibling rivalry on one another. Then again, the Queen grew up along side them, so she knew well what it was like to deal with these kind of situations.

"You know how we can be." Lucia admitted with a brief shrug before she pushed herself over the other side of the cot and got to her feet. "And if you weren't the Queen of Crimea, we'd probably keep picking on you too."

"You pick on me regardless, Lucia." Elincia reminded, watching as the woman blew her a short raspberry in her direction. "Then again, I can't say that like I'm clean of any wrong doing either; your household was not the easiest thing to live in."

"I would attest to that, you two were the worst to deal with." Geoffrey added. "I still remember that bucket of water you put on my door." the reminder of that memory caused the two women to burst into laughter as though they were replaying that scene in the back of their heads. "I think this only proves my case."

"Okay, okay, we're going nowhere with this." Elincia chuckled as she waved her hand slightly as though to toss the matter aside. "Like I said, let me heal you first, I don't want those injuries getting any worse than they already are; we have a long day tomorrow too, so we need everyone to be in the best condition possible."

He tried to hold as still as he could for when the woman could finally activate the healing staff in hand. Even now, after witnessing the act plenty of times throughout the years, he still couldn't understand how the whole thing worked. Healers typically had a rather gifted level of energy which they used to trigger the staff and mend wounds together... that was about as much as he could get. But how did the energy know what to do? It had to take an extreme concentration of energy and control over such an unstable power source; he supposed that's why a few selected Healers doubled as Light Sages as well... then their energy could turn into a more useful power on the battlefield. Then again, it must've been odd to use your energy for both healing and killing people.

But even after all these years, he still couldn't get over the feeling of the healing staff mending wounds back together; he could feel his skin pulling back together and sealing itself shut... it just didn't feel natural. It left an almost irritated itch in its place and he had to restrain himself from pulling away from it. Most of the time, when the injury was on his arm or across his chest, he didn't have a problem with it but this one was one his face and the light from the staff nearly blinded him. Not to mention, the feel of his eyelid having to stretch back together was not exactly something he wanted at the top of his list right now.

Dark-red marks replaced the once open wounds and formed small knots of scar tissue across his skin; it was more irritating on his lip where he could feel it but the ones on his eyelids were a close second... it felt like he could feel them against his eye every time he blinked.

"That definitely looks a lot better." Elincia remarked with a satisfied nod.

"I'm not sure I could agree." Lucia quickly added, more than likely using the cot between them as a barrier now.

"You know what, I'm healed now so I'm just going to leave you two to whatever kind of things you talk about when no one's around." he replied as he started for the exit. "I've got some things I have to catch up on."

"Oh really? Does it involve anyone we might know?"

He almost made it out without some kind of... comment. Almost. Now was the time to decide whether or not he was going to say something in response. Silence would only make it worse but she was practically digging for an answer. "I thought about checking in and making sure Kieran was alright if that was what you were implying." he answered, catching the look of disappointment on her face for a moment. "I mean, with those broken ribs and all, I need to know if he's even the least bit functional right now; like I said, I wouldn't want to risk him moving if it's only going to make his injuries worse. The healer was going to check on him in the morning and see if the swelling's gone down, if it is then he can heal the ribs as best he can and we can keep moving forward. If not... well I haven't exactly thought that far ahead; knowing Kieran though, he'll be ready and willing to leave regardless of the prognosis."

"That just means he's feeling like himself." Lucia commented. "... Although he acts the same way when there's an axe in his head."

"I'm sure he'll be fine." Elincia assured. "Broken ribs aren't the worst things he's had, right?"

"Yeah, he could have a ripped up face- oh wait."

And that was his cue to leave.

He would've liked to say that he didn't have time for discussions like that but... it wasn't like there was really much else for him to do around here. They pushed everything off for tomorrow to give everyone time to rest and heal today, which seemed like a good idea for now- it might not feel like it tomorrow when they would have to pack up and travel. But the Goddess Tower was right around the corner...

Stretching briefly, he figured one more run through the camp wouldn't hurt, if anything it was just to make sure everyone was still doing well. This wasn't their first time going up against Feral Ones but it was the first time encountering Dragons outside of Goldoa, and it would be a lie to say that that wasn't frightening. He kept a simple pace moving down through the maze of organized tents, noting that a few of them had the openings propped open to allow a breeze now and then to come in. Storage crates remained where they had been unloaded before, not even touched or checked for inventory, not that he could really blame anyone that- it wasn't exactly at the top of his list either. A few fires managed to keep themselves lit while a couple of cups were scattered around the small sitting area, hints that this camp wasn't as ghostly occupied as one would think.

The faint sound of voices caught his attention but he tried not to pay all too much into it, he was planning on heading back to his own tent soon after this course was done; as selfish as it may have seemed, he wasn't exactly in the mood for conversation right now.

"I'm surprised to see you're still up as well, Commander."

He glanced up at the remark and noticed their only Archer sitting by one of the fires. It wasn't uncommon to see the woman by herself, she seemed to be the solitary type despite how often she integrating herself in with the others. "Not by choice, I'm afraid."

"I could imagine." Astrid nodded as she toyed with another, fresher cup in hand. "You're probably not interested, but I made a fresh pot of coffee a few minutes ago- still trying to get the hang of it though so I'd be careful with it."

"I assure you, Astrid, it's not the worst batch that's been made; I think you'd have to purposely be trying to make it bad to even reach what some of the others have made." he remarked, figuring it wouldn't hurt to stop for a brief conversation despite what he had said before. "What are you still doing up? I figured everyone would be dead after the battle this morning."

"Believe me, I feel dead but I'm not exactly up to sleeping just yet." she chuckled, taking a small sip of coffee. "Calill and I were just sharing a conversation a moment ago, but she left to go check on Amy real quick."

He supposed he shouldn't be surprised that the woman was still up... he did make it sound like he was going to come back to speak with her, didn't he? "I was doing one more round around the camp to see how everyone was holding up. Seems like everything's going well."

"That's just because we're all too tired to do anything else." Astrid remarked before she pushed herself to her feet, dusting off her uniform for a moment. "Now that you bring it up though, I should probably check in and see how Makalov's doing; he's been quiet for quite some time now. Can you tell Calill I'll be back in a few moments?"

"Uh, sure thing." he nodded, watching as the Archer walked away to find their assigned tent. Okay so maybe he was going to be here for a little while longer... which he guessed was okay. Maybe it would give him some time to bring closure to that conversation they were having before. Or at least bring an ending to this whole thing, good or bad. He found himself leaning more towards a good one though... he guessed for obvious reasons.

This was getting ridiculous... why was he so hesitant about this whole thing- asides from the obvious obstacles that were laid out in front of them, or him at least. Maybe he should just throw away all of his principles for this matter and go recklessly for it. Because that sounded like something he would do, right? Here was the Commander of the Royal Knights who took on Feral Ones, Dragons and the Golden Army without so much as blinking an eye and suddenly he found himself being intimidated by a woman. If there was an army solely consisting of women, he was almost certain most men would just surrender at that point and walk away. Not just because it was rude to hit a lady but... well from the intimidation alone.

He sure as hell would drop his weapon and walk off the field.

"You know, it's normally not a good thing when the Commander is in that deep of thought."

"Yeah but sometimes I feel like I'm the only one thinking at times." he remarked without even looking to see who had spoken to him first. He caught the light chuckle that left her though and watched as the blonde-haired Sage seemed to appreciate the humor in his response. Just his luck right? "Astrid had to go check on Makalov for a moment, she said she'll return soon enough."

If she knew anything about the Archer... she wasn't going to return. She might've set this up accidentally but as soon as she spotted the two of them together, she was going to just stay in her tent until they were through here. "Well that's good, I was afraid our only Archer turned into the Commander instead." she mused, eventually putting a comfortable amount of space between them. The first thing she noticed was the red scars that lined the placements of his previous wounds. "I see you finally found the time to be healed, that's good."

"Oh, yeah... Queen Elincia insisted on treating them." he remarked, resisting the urge to touch at the scars. "I guess I didn't realize how bad they were until they were healed."

"I could've told you they were bad from the start." Calill offered with a light chuckle.

"Believe me, you did without using words." he replied before he moved to cross his arms over his chest. From what he could tell... no one else was around and those close by were no doubt dead asleep or had no intentions of remaining focused on something. That was good enough for him. "Listen-"

"You know, Amy still won't leave me alone about you, I'm going to have to give her some kind of answer eventually." she started. "Hopefully I'll think of something before I go back. I don't know where she got this persistent behavior- actually, I have a pretty good guess, sadly enough."

It was easy to pick up on the light chuckle with her words, as though she wasn't trying all the hard to find a solution to the younger girl's constant bantering; it was just a light topic to bring up to pass the time between them. She knew how to get an answer for it though... they both did. "You can tell her yes."

She stopped slightly at his answer and waited to see if he would continue on... only to allow for a brief moment of silence to overcome the two of them. That didn't sound right though, unless he was serious about it and that would only be a solution outside of both their grasps. Unless he was choosing to do something different about it. But again, that didn't seem like something appropriate for the both of them right now... not that she really knew why though. "...What?" oh yes, that was such a classy answer.

Damnit, he wasn't expecting her to ask something in response. "I'm tired of beating around the issue, I know I've been making a huge deal out of it and avoiding it for the duration of this time together... I apologize for wasting it. I just didn't want to acknowledge what the solution to this mess would be right now, what with the ongoing war before the whole mess with the Goddess broke open, but I realize that wasn't the best answer to it. The position of being Commander didn't help all too much either, I tried not to let personal matters complicate professional ones-"

"It's a reasonable assessment." she interrupted, catching the almost embarrassed look that captured his features. She had to admit it was adorable and she found herself having a difficult time trying to resist it, or resist the urge to chuckle at his expense. "Personal and professional matters should be kept separated, no matter how difficult it is... I know I've crossed it a few times by mistake."

This wasn't the turn of topic that he wanted... but they were both making a solid point to one another. He thought so anyways, there was still the chance of being wrong though. "The fact of the matter is, when this war is over... I would be willing to give this thing a shot. I'm not going to promise a smooth transition or say that it's going to be perfect, but who knows, maybe that's for the best."

This was one of those times where she swore just before she could give an answer... she'd wake up and it would all be a dream. But judging by the short amount of time that passed by, this wasn't something to wake up from for once- the one time she didn't had anything planned to say. "I think... that would be perfect."


	10. Chapter 10

It would seem as soon as things were beginning to become resolved... they had to be forgotten; left behind for matters far more important.

The few days of traveling only reminded everyone of the upcoming ordeal they would soon be facing and while spirits tried to remain high... it was only a matter of time before it would all come crashing down. Most of the days were spent in silence as thoughts and words were kept to themselves, no one really wanted to discuss the upcoming closure to this war, he knew he did. And yet, there was a feeling down inside that they should really be talking about it, just to last minute words and tactics off their chests.

The lingering silence was almost comforting though.

Not as comforting as the site of another campsite coming up ahead of them. Not as comforting as the sound of the other armies giving a brief cheer when they came into sight and offering to help where they could. From what was reporting, Ike's team had arrived first and set up a base camp in wait for the others; Micaiah's group arrived just a few days before... they were the last to arrive but that seemed to be a given. With all the obstacles they ran into, they were lucky enough to show up here in the first place.

"Queen Elincia, it's good to see you finally decided to join us." Ike remarked as he slowly moved to approach their unpacking group.

"Sir Ike... I'm glad to see you are well." she replied in a soft return, one hand moving to tuck aside a thick lock of hair. "I apologize for our late appearance, we gathered a lot of injured on the way here and had to break longer than imagined."

"That's expected, I'm surprised we got here when we did." he nodded, moving to cross his arms for a brief moment. "You should've seen this hit Oscar took, Goddess it knocked him right off his horse and broke his elbow out of place."

She offered a slightly sympathetic grimace before a short nod followed. "We encountered some Feral Ones in the swamp and had some... trouble dealing with the Dragons present. We're still trying to get Kieran back to full health and Geoffrey... well you can see for yourself."

He hadn't really been paying attention to the conversation all that much, more focused on getting his horse under control, but the mention of his name slightly pulled him back in. "For the last time, your Majesty, they're not that bad; there's no need to panic." tying off the reigns to a nearby post, he glanced back over to her in time to see her stifle a light giggle. She was impossible sometimes... that kind of behavior only riled up when she was around Sir Ike though and it was easy to see why.

"It's completely understandable." Ike started. "Ask Gatrie about the scars on his face and you'll get quite a story."

If the blonde-haired Marshall was anywhere to be found, he just might take up on that request. Until then though, he had other things to deal with. Running his hand down the stallion's nose, he watched as the animal gave a heavy shake of its head but seemed to be enjoying the momentary risk; after days of constant traveling, he had no doubts the animal was nearing the point of exhaustion. Moving back over to where the convoy was still unloading a few boxes, he watched as a familiar face was apparent in the small crowd and couldn't help but to offer a brief chuckle at the quick appearance. "Normally, I would say that this heavy lifting isn't a place for a lady but... I know better than to try that."

The red-headed woman looked up at the remark and offered her own chuckle in response. "Commander Geoffrey, I'm glad to see that you're well and that you survived those grueling days of travel." Titania remarked, helping to unload a crate or two off the back of one of the wagons. Her usual, blood-red armor had been removed to reveal the fitting uniform underneath, a mix of different fabric layers and strings that kept the thick covering together. He figured their camp must've avoided most signs of attacks or else the woman wouldn't have shed her armor.

"And the same for you." he nodded, taking the next crate that was offered down before he set it aside. His muscles were still tired and ached from the journey but his job would continue on throughout the day from here; there was still plenty to do and this was only the start of it. "How have things been holding up on this side?"

"So far so good, we haven't had any sightings of the Golden Army in this region for now... I get a bad feeling about it though." she answered, fingers pushing aside a few of her loose bangs as she tucked them behind one ear. "We're this close to the Tower and not a single soldier."

Now that she mentioned it, it did seem odd.

It sounded like Ashera had another thing up her sleeve...

"Well, now that we've finally arrived, we can put an end to all of this madness." Geoffrey started. "Hopefully."

She offered a reassuring smile and moved one hand to rest on his shoulder. "I don't think we have any other choice at this point. Just look at all the people around you, we can't risk failing them, right?"

He guessed he surprised himself when the first thought to cross his mind at the question was about Amy... he couldn't risk failing her, that was for sure. Maybe he should've considered Lucia or Elincia or maybe even Bastian first but... they could all defend themselves and each other; Amy was just an innocent little girl caught up in a mess caused by the world around her. "It's no wonder everyone looks to you for some kind of guidance. It seems like you always have the right answers."

"Not always, I assure you." Titania chuckled. "I've made a lot of mistakes in my life, that's why I have so many solutions."

"Don't listen to her when she talks like that, she doesn't give herself enough credit." the additional voice drew attention to the new Paladin who was joining their small, brief group. One hand had been in the midst of ruffling his dark-green hair, pushing it away from his face for a moment. He was dressed in a similar fashion to his red-headed counterpart with the exception of darker material making up his uniform. It was noted that black bandages were wrapped tightly around his left arm, probably to brace his elbow in place from its recent break.

"Shouldn't you be looking after Rolf?" she questioned.

"Rhys is keeping an eye on him; he said his fever's gone down remarkably fast and that he should be fine by nightfall... I don't really feel comfortable with him feeling ill this close to the battlefield, but there's nothing I can do about it right now."

"We had several battles out in the snow and then the rain... needless to say, about three days ago, everyone was down with some kind of illness." Titania explained, watching as the wagon next to them eventually pulled away once its load had been unpacked to make space for another one.

"Having a cold and a broken elbow was not really fun to deal with." Oscar commented, touching briefly at the black bandages on his arm. "I kept knocking it out of place that first and second night, I think I aggravated Rhys since he had to keep resetting it again and again."

He offered a brief chuckle at their recollective stories and shook his head. "Believe me, I would have much rather taken fighting in the snow and rain over fighting in a swamp-"

"Commander Geoffrey."

Yet another voice to join them... except this one he recognized almost immediately. When he turned around to greet the man, he found himself almost immediately face to face with him instead, which startled him briefly. "Sir Renning... is there something I can help you with?"

"The Queen appears to be preoccupied with a man from one of the other armies... he looks remarkably like you so I must ask that you tell me everything you know about him." the man answered. "I will not allow for my niece to prance about with a man who is unknown to my knowledge."

This was going to be yet another long day for him.

* * *

><p>It would be an understatement to say that it was easy relief to feel when they finally arrived at the new campsite. She offered assistance where she could but wanted to keep her attention on Amy, who seemed willing to dart off at any given moment. Marcia offered to take her off her hands for awhile, promising to take her on a short and low to the ground ride on her Pegasus to keep her entertained. She was willing to let the Pegasus Knight take her for awhile, at least until the unloading process was through and things were properly set up. Not to mention, the girl just seemed so excited about the prospect of the ride, she didn't know if she had the heart to deny her.<p>

It was nice to see everyone again though.

"Lady Calill, I'm glad to see ya again." Nephenee greeted, stepping out of one of the tents just as she was passing by. "How were your travels?"

"Terrible." she chuckled. "But we're here and that's all that matters right? Seems like you guys have been settled in for awhile now."

"It's felt like years." the green-haired woman remarked.

"I know the feeling."

"Calill!"

She glanced up at the call of her name and watched as a flash of blue and yellow ran towards her. She barely had time to brace herself for the impact and felt the way the slender thief placed hands on her shoulders and lifted herself up slightly in a brief, celebrated jump. "Heather, Heather, I understand your enthusiasm... but please, I just finished several long days of traveling, give me a few minutes."

"Sorry, I just can't resist the returning sight of the most beautiful woman in all of Tellius." the woman grinned as she settled back on her feet, keeping herself purposely close to her. "So tell me, do I finally get a chance or have you wooed the Commander over yet?"

"H-Heather, ya just can't ask her that." Nephenee scolded lightly.

"It's alright. We're all aware she would've asked it eventually." Calill assured. "As for your question, Heather, I'm sorry to inform you but the Commander and I-"

"I knew it." she interrupted, faking a brief look of disappointment. "I guess I just don't have what it takes to compete with a... 'man' like that."

"Maybe you should get one of your own and see what it's like." she offered with a teasing grin.

The thief rolled her eyes along with the comment and gave one of those 'you must not really know me' expressions. "Please, I have enough men trying to grab at me regardless of what I say, I'd hate to see what would happen if I gave them the satisfaction of courting me and acknowledging it."

Well, she can't say that she was supposed to be surprised with that kind of response, if anything it was a little humorous and gave her something to laugh at. "I'm glad to see the war hasn't put a damper on your spirit Heather."

"Oh no, it will take a lot more than a few simple skirmishes to change me." She assured, flipping a long lock of hair behind her shoulder. "I can't say the same about Nephenee here though; she probably hasn't told you yet, but she's got a boyfriend."

"I-I do not!" the country girl quickly defended, a deep shade of crimson moving across her cheeks. "We... we ain't exactly datin' yet..."

The news caught her off-guard for a moment before she ushered a quick grin to appear on her lips. "Oh ho ho, what is this? Is my little Nephenee finally growing up without me? I can't believe it. So tell me, who is this nice, young man- hopefully- you're speaking with?"

Right when the girl was going to speak, the other woman butted in.

"It's the green-haired, barbarian-looking one." Heather answered.

She knew that one... and she guessed she wasn't really surprised by it. She had witnessed the two of them together before and the boy certainly seemed like he was interested in her and she returned the feelings once or twice. The green-haired girl looked like she wanted to die though, her blush having spread further across her face and had deepened a shade or two. "You don't say? Well I'm glad for you, it's about time you found a boy of your own. You're gonna need someone to take home to your mother."

"I'm in the same boat; my mother won't get off my back with the whole 'bringing someone home' thing." Heather retorted playfully enough.

"You two are too much." Nephenee remarked.

"Someone's gotta keep you in shape when we're not out on the battlefield."

* * *

><p>As much as they all would have loved another resting period, another day to just... take in these final hours, there were plans to make and look to; there were news that needed to be passed around and objectives they had to set out before they could take on the Goddess herself. It would seem as though the tent wasn't going to be big enough to fit all of them... how they managed to get this many people into it without it combusting at the seams was beyond him.<p>

Queen Elincia, Lucia, Bastian and himself formed one small group.

Ike had Soren and Titania had his sides, as well as Micaiah- or rather Yune- with Sothe close by her.

The Apostle Sanaki was guarded by Commander Sigrun and Captain Tanith who stood so still it was difficult to tell if the women were present or if mere statues had been set down in their places instead.

King Tibarn stood with his thick arms crossed, Leanne and Reyson stood close by while King Naesala kept his distance from the trio.

King Caineghis brought with him his own Shadow, Giffca, and Prince Skrimir.

Queen Nailah kept Rafiel close to her side and showed little emotion during the proceedings.

Prince Kurthnaga said very little and appeared slightly pale while Ena stood close to him, a matching solemn expression danced across her face.

"Eleven of your best warriors is all I can manage." Yune started.

"Eleven?" Ike repeated, his tone mixed with half disbelief and skepticism. They had an entire camp of fighters and all they were granted were eleven spaces to take into the Goddess tower itself? How could anyone make that kind of decision?

The white-haired, possessed girl looked in his direction before she gave a nod to assure her words were not mistaken. "You are to accompany the leading assault regardless, Sir Ike; we'll want both Dragons present to follow us as well... and one member of the Heron tribe... and the Apostle of course... I do wish to keep Sothe with me too."

It still seemed difficult for the man to comprehend and accept, a reaction he could understand. How were they expected to narrow down every fighter they had to an unit of just eleven people?

"With all due respect... I'm not going to cut corners here..." Ike started, moving one hand to push through his blue strands. "King Caineghis, King Tibarn, King Naesala, Queen Nailah, will the four of you accompany me?"

"That's not a question." Nailah answered. "We all knew you were going to pick us regardless."

"You do need us." Tibarn added on.

"Believe me, I know that." he chuckled briefly. "What does that leave us with? Six more to go? ... Apostle Sanaki, is there someone here you wish to bring with you?"

The younger girl pressed her lips together for a moment as she carefully considered her options before she gave a light nod. "Commander Sigrun."

"Forgive me, Apostle, but I must decline your consideration." Sigrun spoke, catching the girl off-guard for a moment. "I feel as though Captain Tanith will do a much better job at protecting you; she is far more violent and willing to take on any challenge for your safety... I know you will be in good hands."

"You can't be serious." Tanith quickly spat, disregarding appointed positions at this moment as she turned towards the green-haired Commander.

"Please Tanith... I'm asking you to take my place at the Apostle's side; I must stay behind and ensure that there will be something left to return to when you come back victoriously."

The other woman seemed to be at a momentary loss for words, failing to complete any sentence that followed after before she eventually gave into silence. Taking in a deep breath, she let go of an approving nod but said nothing further; sealing the deal for where it stood now.

"Queen Elincia, do you wish to step into the tower yourself?" Ike questioned, looking up to catch the eyes of the green-haired woman.

She gave into a light smile before a small shake followed. "I apologize, Sir Ike, but I will have to decline your invitation. I do not believe it's in my place to take on such a battle like that, not to mention I'm sure a more well-equipped warrior will be needed instead. If I might make a suggestion though, if Commander Geoffrey wishes to take my place then let it be."

The sudden announcement caught him slightly by surprised before he was quick to answer. "With all due respect, my Queen, my place is at your side... if you do not wish to step into the tower, then neither will I. However... if I were to make another suggestion-"

"No, just... please don't tell me what I think you're going to." Ike interrupted.

"Kieran would make a suitable substitute." he finished.

The look on the other man's face would almost be humorous had it not been a shared expression with a few of the others. Yes, the red-headed man could be a bit... out there and energetic, but he was a noble fighter just the same. He had been completely healed just that morning so he was in top shape right now, he was a suitable match for an ordeal like this; he would serve Crimea well in this battle. It seemed to take a few moments before the other Commander gave in to a defeating nod. "Alright... that still leaves us with four open slots. Titania, I need you in there with us."

"I'll do my best." she nodded.

"This is Ashera we're going against, it's not going to be easy to get to her. We'll need a healer to accompany us." Yune reminded. "Who's your best one?"

"She brings up a good point." Tibarn agreed.

The blue-haired man showed a momentary sense of distress as he was forced to check off another number, dwindling down their already small army to a lower unit. "Alright uh... remind me to speak with Rhys later about this then." Ike eventually responded, moving one hand to push through his loose locks for a moment. "Two more people."

The tent was filled with another pocket of silence as everyone tried to find a suitable match for that last spot. They had a pretty good group going in but... what last warrior would help to push the odds in their favor?

"If you're having difficult making this final decision, might I offer one more name to help you with this choice?" Caineghis offered, eventually breaking the silence for the moment with his thick and heavy voice. "Giffca would prove to be a suitable ally against the Goddess; his strength is upper-handed only by my own."

One more Lion certainly couldn't hurt them...

Giving into one last nod, Ike approved of the final name before he turned to make the more difficult decision of the night. "We still need one member from the Heron tribe..."

"Rafiel is a fitting choice-"

"Whoa now, who said you were given the chance to make this decision?" Tibarn interrupted, cutting the Wolf Queen off in mid-sentence. "As dangerous as this operation will be, I believe Reyson would be better prepared for this mission."

"I'm sorry but did you forget about Leanne too?" Naesala remarked, a touch of sarcasm in his voice.

"Excuse me, but do we even get a say in this?" Reyson interrupted.

Fingers moved to massage his aching temples for a moment before Ike glanced around to look at the others in the tent. He could only offer the younger man a sympathetic shrug, knowing this kind of argument could go on all night if it was needed. The Bird tribe was notorious for fighting with one another for days on end, but now with Queen Nailah added to the mix... this kind of decision would no doubt end in bloodshed. And quite possibly an empty spot on the team.

"We won't be striking until tomorrow morning, I'll let you guys settle this out but try to do so tonight... and inform me of your decision when it is finally reached." Ike started, as he waved one hand to dismiss the short meeting. "I think it's true to say that we would all like to take this remaining day to get in some last minute rest before tomorrow. I'll probably still be here if you need me, but the rest of you are free to go."

One by one the groups started to dissipate, most of the Laguz Royalty members were the first to leave, still engaged in their heated debate, before the Apostle herself guided her way out; Sigrun and Tanith followed silently behind her, the both of them seemed almost uneasy at the change of pace that would be crashing down on top of them tomorrow. Queen Elincia ushered them ahead of her, saying there were a few things she wanted to discuss with Sir Ike first; Lucia pushed them along on the way out, that all-knowing grin of hers toying with the corners of her lips the entire time.

"So tell me, are you going to be kicking yourself in the morning for not taking up on that offer?" Lucia questioned as they stepped out into the darkness outside. "I mean, only eleven fighters can go in... they'll be the ones to go down in the history books."

He shook his head briefly at the ridiculous question. "I stand behind my answer, Lucia; we all took the oath to stand at Queen Elincia's side and I intend to do just that, regardless of what I have to turn down in order to do so. Besides, the Royal Knights need me out here as well."

"So noble of you, Sir Geoffrey." Bastian remarked.

"And the two of you need me to be out here to keep you guys alive."

"... And the feeling is lost."

Chuckling lightly, he continued on his way in another direction. "I'm going to be in my tent for the rest of the night if I'm needed; I'm hoping you two don't get yourselves caught up in... whatever it is that you're going to do."

"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Lucia called after him.

He merely waved her off and continued on his way to his tent. He needed to take some time to clear his head and get his thoughts together... tomorrow was it, this was all the time they were granted. A lot of people would be taking advantage of this... which was good and bad at the same time. He would do the same... only if he knew what exactly to do about it. They said that they would wait until after the war was over but... with the recent talks, there was speculation on whether or not there would be a tomorrow. Titania advised him to take a more optimistic look on the situation, he guessed the least he could do was make an attempt at it.

Sighing briefly to himself, he worked his way down the massive camp and started to push into his tent before something in the corner of his eye caught his attention.

"Ha ha, Amy you can't just roam around like that!" Calill called after the pigtailed girl, who successfully managed to keep a few steps out of her reach at all times. One hand had tightly gathered a small bundle of her dress and held it up to keep the hem from tripping her as she chased after her daughter. "Now come back here!"

Still though, despite the Sage's decent speed and agility, the girl managed to outrun her still; weaving in and around the boxes that had yet to be put up, not that they really had time to do so anyways. It looked to be a game for them though, the both of them were laughing at one another as each attempted capture only ended in failure and eventually restarted the same process again.

"Sir Geoffrey, Sir Geoffrey!"

Oh no.

Before he could even get in a word of objection, the girl immediately made a beeline for him and threw herself behind the protection of his legs; putting him in between her and her mother, who was still in pursuit.

"Hey now, that's cheating." Calill reminded with a soft chuckle as she slowed her pace just briefly before she came to a stop a foot or so in front of him. "You know I can't risk putting a dent on the Royal Knight Commander."

"I know, that's why I'm using him."

He watched as she shook her head before those eyes of hers moved up to him. "She hates it when I try to brush her hair around this time of night."

"I can see that." he started, watching as Amy quickly peeked around him to see what was going on.

She made eye contact with the younger girl and watched as she ducked back out of view once more. Oh, how the girl could be a handful sometimes... "I'm guessing you just got back from that meeting... is it appropriate to ask for the details of it?"

Everyone was going to know about it by tomorrow anyways, so there didn't seem to be any harm in telling her now. "From what Yune was able to tell us, we're only allowed to take in eleven fighters, plus six others who were already chosen." he started, already watching how her previously outgoing expression changed dramatically at the words. "Ike's already picked out those outfitted to go but... we left before they finished debating which one from the Heron tribe was going to accompany them. Hopefully we'll get an answer by tomorrow morning."

It was impossible to deny the slight frown that touched at the corners of her lips. Only eleven fighters could take on the Goddess? Well technically more than that but still... it would seem more suitable for everyone to rush in there; she guessed Yune could only take in so many people with her, which did cut them down quite a bit actually. What were the rest of them to do then? Sit out here and hope for the best? "Will you be going?"

"No, I... actually passed up the chance." he answered.

"Why would you do that?" Amy questioned, peeking from around his legs once more as the ongoing discussion tipped her curiosity.

"Well, seeing how you keep running from your mother, someone's got to be able to keep an eye on you."


	11. Chapter 11

The break of dawn found every fighter already outside of their tents dressed in full gear as they nervously gripped at the weapons that stayed ready at their sides. Those chosen to storm the tower were settled in the middle of the camp, silent and solemn as they got in last minute words with those around them. King Caineghis was assuring his nephew that they would soon return and made him promise to keep an eye on those outside; Prince Skrimir merely rolled his eyes and offered a brief snarl that he was no longer a child and had well-earned his way to the top of the food chain. He was the future of Gallia at this point... no one doubted his strength but King Caineghis laughed lightly at the younger man and rested a hand on his shoulder, saying that he held no doubts about him at all. Giffca nodded and backed up the King's statement, mentioning that a battle like this would serve as the only accepted last battle for Caineghis; only the Goddess herself would see to the end of his reign.

King Tibarn joked lightly with those around him, telling Janaff and Ulki that there was no use in worrying about him; assuring Reyson and Leanne that he would return victoriously enough and end this mess once and for all. His bold words and optimistic attitude seemed to be the serving point and made the situation all the more believable. Reyson reminded him not to get too reckless in battle, in which case the Hawk King merely snipped that that rarely happened. King Naesala seemed to roll his eyes at the conversation and set off to speak with someone else.

Commander Sigrun was getting in some last minute words with the Apostle and Captain Tanith, turning down the woman's offer to switch places again and again. She offered a warm smile to the both of them and said that Begnion would be proud and praise their return. They would have a lot of work to do once this mess was over with and she wasn't going to be able to do it by herself.

Queen Nailah spoke briefly with her allies, giving Volug strict instructions to rip out the throats of any soldier who dared to show up while they were gone. The silent man nodded in assurance and gave no other answer. Prince Rafiel had been chosen to go after a long and tedious argument... he seemed to be bearing the decision well enough and offered his prayers to the darker Wolf for his safety.

Ike and Titania were surrounded by the members of the Greil's Mercenaries, all of whom seemed worried but weren't going to give away to the emotions; only Mist seemed to be on the verge of tears with the decision and clung to her brother's side. There seemed to be little he could do to comfort her, but he tried... Boyd joked briefly that sending in eleven fighters were ten too many with Titania on the team, he said the Goddess was probably terrified of her appearance already; he did mention it was a good idea they were bringing Rhys along, just in case the Goddess lined the place with entrapping vines to trip the Paladin again. It garnered a few laughs and helped to lighten the mood.

Micaiah and Sothe stayed close with their Dawn Brigade while Nolan assured them that he would keep a tight eye on everyone while they were gone. Edward added that he would do the same for Nolan, knowing that it would be difficult for the old man to move around so much.

"Commander Geoffrey, are you sure about this decision?" Kieran questioned.

He swore he had already answered the man about ten times that morning, and that was before he was even completely awake. Sighing briefly, he looked over at the red-headed man who kept a tight grip on the brown stallion at his side. It was easy to tell he had probably spent all night shining his armor and sharpening his weapons, making sure he was looking his best. He had never seen the man show even an ounce of reluctancy... but this kind of morning was new for all of them. "Like I said before, Kieran, my place is at Queen Elincia's side out there; I have to protect her against anything that might try to attack us out here. We were given one unit to send in... and with my absence, I chose you to go in my place. You'll serve Crimea well, Kieran, you have to and I have no doubts that you'll complete this task with everything you've got. Is that understood?"

It seemed to take a moment for the man to recollect the words as they swarmed around him before he gave a nod. "Yes sir. You can count on Second-in-Command, Kieran, to bring the Goddess down for Crimea!"

"There you go." Geoffrey chuckled. "Just... try not to put your own axe in your head this time."

"Ah, that was tis' but a flesh wound."

"I don't care, there was blood everywhere and you almost passed out." Lucia added as she stepped up to his empty side; a freshly polished sword swung from her belt. "Make us proud Kieran... and don't make me regret not making Geoffrey go in the first place."

"Fear not-!"

"Ah-ha! It is but Kieran the Brave himself!" Bastian interrupted, walking in on the trio. "Soon enough, he will be making the journey to the beginning of the end... he will be facing the very mother of our existence, the very Goddess we all worshipped, the one who cradled us against her chest long before we even existed-"

"Shut up Bastian."

"Alright, alright, places everyone!" Ike called, eventually forcing himself to separate away from the Mercenaries behind him. "We've only got a short open period of time to get in there, so we can't afford to waste even a single minute. I'll be the first to admit... we don't really have much of a plan and we don't know what's going on inside of that Tower, but I have no doubts about the victory we'll be bringing back with us. Those chosen for this team... well, it's not easy to say, but the fate of everyone around you and everyone you love is resting on your shoulders right now. I know the feeling, I know the intense pressure that's going to be following us with this move, but even as this event is one that's never occurred before, we all know what we have to do. I don't want to say that this is the moment to say goodbyes, because that's implying that we won't be coming back-"

His speech was cut off as an arrow whistled close by his head and continued on over his right shoulder.

The mysterious arrow head burrowed itself into the empty space above Captain Tanith's collarbone, hitting the small open space between her three pieces of armor. A brief shout of surprise and pain left the woman as she moved back from the recoil before she came back with more anger at the surprise hit. "Who the fuck shot this?"

And just like that, the forest line around them broke open with shades of Gold as lumbering soldiers closed in on their gathered positions; more and more soldiers appeared out of thin air and rushed towards them, leaving their heavier units behind to pick up the pace. A heavy collection of roars broke open the air as Wveryn Knights rose up from underneath the Begnion bridge, the usually black-scaled dragons were even coated in gold.

"By the grace of the holy mother..." Bastian whispered, his expression broken by a heavy mask of surprise and brief fear.

"We have to go now!" Yune shouted, watching as the massive gates leading into the Capital city broke open.

"We can't just leave like this-" Kieran started.

"This is why I stayed back." Geoffrey remarked as he grabbed the other man by the arm and pushed him forward. "Now get to that tower and finish this. The Royal Knights will ensure this whole... battle gets cleaned up." again, the red-headed paladin showed a brief lapse of hesitation before he slipped on his matching helmet and easily scaled onto the back of his stallion; all it took was one, quick tug of the reigns and he was off. He watched as the chosen team quickly made their departure while everyone else scrambled to get into defensive positions against the quickly approaching soldiers. Quickly getting into his own saddle, he freed a lance from its holding straps before he pulled on the reigns in front of him. It was a mixed set of armies in one place... but they all still followed one of the first organized tactic in any kind of combat.

The largest number of soldiers were coming in right behind them...

Giving a brief kick to the horse beneath him, he took off towards the steadily approaching line of gold. Breaking into the few short yards of space between them, he caught sight of Makalov coming up against his left side and Oscar not all too far from his right... he felt the slight break of air next to him and watched as Sir Renning rushed right past him. For a moment, he swore he caught some kind of... grin on his face- he wasn't seriously taking this up as their challenge, was he?

It was a clash of lances against armor and he felt his entire body shake with the force he put behind his swing; watching as the silver tip tore clean through the swordsman at his feet. An easy break of armor erupted not to far from him and he watched as the green-armored Paladin just about smashed himself into the open line. His silver lance impaling through the chest of two men before it snapped from the pressure. He already had another weapon drawn though and was having an easier time going from one vulnerable neck to the next. Makalov had managed to draw several of the swordsmen from their places to take out individually before he broke enough of the frontline to shatter their organization. It was one hit after another for them as they provided a decent offensive with their small number, watching as other soldiers broke from their lines and rushed past them to strike at the warriors still present in the camp; but they had provided enough of a distraction to allow everyone else to take their places. Jerking back on the reigns, he felt the white stallion underneath him lift on its back legs before heavy hooves came crashing down on some unfortunate swordsmen.

"Is that the best you got?" Sir Renning remarked as he tore through several swordsmen and two Marshalls; spinning his blood-covered weapon afterwards.

"You can't be serious." Geoffrey retorted; already feeling himself breaking out into a sweat as he pierced one soldier clean through the skull with the breaking tip of his lance.

"It's your job to protect Queen Elincia, is it not?" he questioned. "I will see to how well you can do just that."

He barely had time for a response and watched as the older man took back off towards the camp to launch an offensive strike on the other end. This was a serious, life or death situation and he wanted to- forget it! He was right... it was his job to protect Elincia... and he sure as hell was going to prove himself with that.

Giving a brief shake of his head, he ran his lance through the open abdomen of two Halberdiers who stood dangerously close to him, feeling a brief shake as his lance already threatened to crack and break underneath the weight. It would be too risky to break a weapon this early on though... he only had a limited number at his side right now, although he supposed if he had to restock during the battle, there was a slim chance he could do just that.

Pulling back away from the rushing crowd as several Marshalls approached him, he tried to figure out a strategy to take them down one by one. Normally, his lances seemed to do very little against them and ended up breaking against their heavy armor... he just needed to find a break and then- His thoughts were interrupted as a rush of fire seemed to run down both his sides before they linked up in front of him, creating a protective circle of fire that sheered the golden armor in front of him. The given flames wavered before they erupted outward and burned anyone within a few yards radius around him into corrupted ash.

He risked a brief glance over his shoulder to see who had conjured the spell. Not that it was really worth questioning. He already knew who it belonged to...

* * *

><p>"Do not think I did not see that."<p>

She glanced up at the singing voice and watched as the blonde-haired Count stood not too far from her; that eager face of his always grinning. "Don't think I missed out on that lovely little display you threw for Lady Lucia."

"Touche, Lady Calill…"

This sudden eruption of the golden army all around them caught everyone off- guard, even the Sages themselves, but they had an easier time getting back on task. She couldn't count how many people she gave cover to when the soldiers drew too close too soon for some fighters; she tried to give them ample time to draw their blades for the enemies that would be waiting for them on the other side of the fire wall she summoned between them. Hopefully it was enough time…

Those who were unable to fight were kept in the center of the camp where a few of their light Sages casted some kind of protective spell over them. It helped to lift some of the weight off her shoulders since she knew that Amy was well protected by the barrier… but she also had those doubts that the spell would break somehow. Most of her energy went into concentrating on her own spells, but she found herself constantly getting distracted by the thought of the girl being at risk for attack. She tried not to let it show in her spells but a few times she missed her target by a just an inch or two.

There were a lot of fighters out to cover the mistake though.

A sharp noise overhead was followed by the crashing impact of a body just a few yards from her; the golden figure erupting into ash as soon as it hit the ground. Glancing upward, she watched as Commander Sigrun circled back around and charged into yet another battle against the flying Wyvern Knights. Her heavily decorated Pegasus moved like air and carried itself freely across the open sky; with a lance tightly gripped in one hand, the woman proved again and again why she lead the Holy Guards, why she alone could seemingly protect Begnion. And just a few paces behind her was Marcia, who seemed to more a little more reckless but obtained the same ongoing kill streak. Where the Commander struck for a kill on the first hit, Marcia wounded several soldiers seemingly at once before she followed through with a second or third attack. And one couldn't ignore the two Wyvern Knights who stood their side and seemed to manipulate the skies to their bidding. Sir Haar's pitch black armor was an easy sight to spot in the clouds of gold as he eradicated wave after wave of soldiers, occasionally joining the red-headed Jill for a tag team effort. It was almost mesmerizing to see... what foot soldiers could do on the ground, they were glorifying in the air space above them; manipulating gravity it would seem with their acrobatic moves and spins.

But they weren't without their own weaknesses and luckily there were people on the ground who recognized that.

Both Stefan and Zihark took it upon themselves to target the occasional Archer that ran across their paths, trying to make sure that Commander Sigrun and Marcia were kept safe from any stray arrows; the duo moved like one across the open field, striking and wielding swords in the same fashion as they almost appeared to be competing with one another for some kind of prize. They were both of equal strength and skill it would seem, although Stefan appeared to be having a slightly easier time than Zihark was. A couple of their own Archers, the ones she could see at the moment, were watching for Haar and Jill and trying to knock out any Thunder Mages they could spot in the area; she kept an eye out for them as well and managed to knock out two of them before they could open their tomes.

For an ambushed battle... they were doing pretty well.

Some of them didn't go without injury though.

She had spotted Nephenee not to long ago stuck in some kind of crowd, she was sporting a cut across one cheek and another gash that tore open the side of her leg. It wasn't a pretty sight but the injuries did little to slow the woman down. Plus, she supposed it was worth mentioning that the green-haired Barbarian they had mentioned before was with her; keeping his axe sharp on anyone who tried to sneak up on her. And then there was Heather, who was missing half of her cape now but otherwise unharmed. She looked more as though she was dancing through the groups of soldiers and watching as they dissipated into ash shortly after she passed by.

This was one of the largest battles she had seen... even larger than the Mad King's War three years ago.

Back then, they could pray to the Goddess for protection though...

For this war, they were on their own.

"I hope you're not getting too worried over here."

She glanced up at the remark and watched as a black-haired Mage was now standing not too far from her; she was dressed in the usual attire for a Healer, with layers of white clothing tossed onto her slender frame. But with a small tome book resting in one hand, it was easy to see that they were still desperate for fighters regardless of rank. She was no doubt a Light Mage, which didn't often inflict too much damage but it was enough to slow a soldier down.

"You're speaking to a World Class Sage here, there's no such thing as worrying for me." Calill assured, flashing a quick smile to back up her words. It seemed to do the trick and she watched as the girl chuckled lightly in return.

"I wish I could say the same." Laura admitted as fingertips flipped through the silk-like pages of the tome in front of her. "I have more confidence in the people around me though... I'm sure this battle will go as best it can."

They were all nervous about it, they were all worried sick and paranoid about how this battle would go. Because the soldiers out here meant nothing if the ones inside the Tower weren't put out... they had to put all the trust they could muster into the team that had been sent in after the Goddess. They were the only glimmer of hope they had.

"We have some brave fighters out today, I have no doubt they'll be able to strike away at this threat." she started. "For instance, look at Prince Skrimir over there... he's looking more and more like King Caineghis every day."

And those words couldn't be truer. The massive form he took in his Laguz stage outsized every fighter they had right now... In a single pounce, he was able to take down three Marshalls at once and watch as they erupted into dust underneath his power. One swing could knock a Paladin and his horse clean off their feet; one swing could send four Swordsmen tangling in mid-air; one swing could decimate any number of Mages that were available in one area. It was almost frightening to think of the power King Caineghis was in charge of... what kind of strength did the Lion King hold?

Hopefully enough to take down the Goddess.

"As long as we all do our part, no matter how small, we'll have a chance..."

* * *

><p>It was the brutal, hot pain that shot its way across his body that made him quickly realize how the tide was turning in this battle.<p>

An enemy paladin struck him from the back and shoved the tip of a silver lance into the small portion of open space between his different plates of armor; hitting him in the soft flesh of his left shoulder and digging into the muscle underneath. The strike seemed to end about as quickly as it began but the sheering aftermath lingered in the white spots in his vision; the sudden hit of nausea at the pit of his stomach. It felt like his left arm immediately became useless and he had to relay on one hand on the reigns to keep from getting knocked or thrown off. The stallion underneath him broke crazy at the following force and kicked about to get away from the possible threat- as if he needed something else to make this situation even worse.

Gritting his teeth to try and fight through the pain, he wrapped the reigns twice around his hand before he pulled them back with enough force to only mildly yank the stallion's head back as well. It probably wasn't the best action to do, the horse snorted briefly at the action and pulled away from him immediately afterwards... but the kicking stopped and a calmer demeanor took back over. One hand moved to touch at the wound, wincing as his fingers came in contact with the shredded skin that pushed through his uniform. Blood had already started to run down the front of his outfit, staining every inch of material along the way. The white spots persisted but had moved to the corner of his eyes instead; breathing came with mild difficulty and only seemed to pain the injury further; his head was pounding as it seemed like every pain receptor in his body was trying to flood messages to his brain. But he had managed to keep from getting knocked off... that was a good start. The silver tip had gone through and through though... he was losing a lot of blood and feeling to his fingertips. He couldn't risk stopping now.

"I took a nasty hit like that once... it hurts like a son of a bitch."

He had to keep the back of his hand against his mouth for a moment, trying to overcome the still lingering sense of nausea that threatened to bring itself up from his stomach. Eyes eventually settled long enough to look in the direction of the voice, spotting only a slightly blurred image of Sir Renning just a foot or so from him. "I would believe it."

"The only exception is I fell off my horse, threw up and then passed out. In that order."

He couldn't exactly tell if the man was trying to make a joke or not... the pounding in his head knocked out a lot of his words. "Well then... I guess this can be a tab in my favor. I think that might just break us even right now."

Renning seemed offer a brief chuckle at his expense before he gave a nod of his head. "Yes, you certainly have earned yourself this one. However, I would highly advise that you seek the attention of a healer as soon as possible. Any more blood loss and you're going to lose feeling to your arm; if you stress the injury, you may end up losing the whole thing."

Well... that wasn't exactly the most comforting thought right now. "I know... but right now, we need every fighter on the field; I can't risk sitting out. I'll just... make do."

"You're playing a dangerous game with that, Commander."

"With all due respect Sir Renning, I agreed to take you up on a challenge like this... I highly doubt anything could be more dangerous than that."


	12. Chapter 12

Despite his injuries, the pain did eventually numb itself away, he tried to keep himself in battle. Every strike to kill the enemy felt like it was doing just as much damage to him as well. They needed every fighter though, he knew that much... which is why he couldn't risk sitting out, even for half an hour; the healers were busy keeping the protective shield up and serving as Mages as well. He would just have to deal with it for now and maybe catch a break later on.

But it was constant wave after wave of action...

They were showing signs of exhaustion while the enemy just kept coming forward. They showed no hint of stopping...

Whenever he stopped to catch his breath though, he watched as a rush of fire moved around him to keep the enemy from ambushing him when he was vulnerable. He chuckled at the thought of it really... he owed that woman a debt that would probably never be paid off. Unfortunately, Sir Renning had caught hold of the pattern and gave him a few questioning looks about it, in which he just tried to shake it off. Right now was not the time to have this kind of discussion after all.

His arm had gotten worse for the sheer fact he couldn't feel it much anymore; the color had drained from his fingertips and he could barely move it, the most he could manage was keeping it pressed against his abdomen to keep it out of the way. But he could deal with it later, right now was a life or death situation that he intended to survive.

"You're looking a little worse for wear."

He glanced up at the voice and watched as the green-haired Paladin took a moment of rest at his side. Several deep cuts were split across his face, tearing open his right cheek, part of his neck and carving its way down one of his eyes. Crimson liquid poured down his face to leave most of it covered in the bloody fluid, one would think it would inhibit his sight... but seeing as his eyes seemed to be closed at all times, it was difficult to see how he viewed the battlefield anyways. "I think we're all a little on the worse side."

"Amen to that." Oscar nodded, moving one hand to wipe the blood from his eye once more. "These guys just keep coming back again and again..."

"Why wouldn't they? They're practically immortal and the Goddess has the power to keep calling them back." Geoffrey remarked, touching slightly at the dried mess of his shoulder; he moved his hand away almost immediately afterwards at the sprawling pain that erupted from the minor touch. "Believe me, if we had that kind of power, we'd be using it as well."

"That's true... then again we sent our strongest in after the Goddess herself, so hopefully they'll start changing the tides out here soon enough."

Hopefully that would stand true.

A slight gust of wind from above startled the both of them before a small Pegasus dropped down in the space in front; the pink-haired Knight showed damages just the same, her cheery attitude having long since expired.

"We've got more soldiers coming on our right." Marcia reported, the decorative headpiece she wore with her armor had been knocked off, leaving a deep cut across her forehead. "Commander Sigrun flew ahead to try and knock them off path but... the most she'll be able to do is buy us some more time."

"That's all we could really ask for right now..." he nodded, as much as he hated that Commander Sigrun would be off on her own... he knew she could handle herself against them. "We'll brace ourselves for the new wave, thanks for the heads up."

"I'm just hoping that they reach the Goddess soon enough, I don't know how much more of this I can take." the woman groaned as she gripped her weapon once more before she lifted back into the sky.

"I don't think many of us are going to be lasting much longer."

* * *

><p>It would almost seem as though she heard the Count curse long before she felt the actual hit. The tip of a partly broken sword made its way down her body, moving from one shoulder down to the soft tissue underneath her right breast. It was an easy move to step out from but she hadn't been expecting the man to shoot forward like he did... at least she was out of his range enough to avoid a more devastating hit.<p>

This one drew out blood to stain her dress and light sparks of pain to spread out across her body.

It easily could have ripped her apart though.

A sharp dash of lightning charred the golden soldier in front of her, reducing him to simply nothing... not even ashes to wave off his final goodbyes. Hands moved to touch at the wound but hesitated as they didn't know exactly where to go first; the injury felt massive to her, even though it probably wasn't even that bad of a hit. Now was not the time to be overdramatic... a World Class Sage didn't cry over minor wounds like this.

"By the light of Heaven's doors, my Lady Calill are you alright?" Bastian called out as he quickly made his way over to her; his usually cheery attitude replaced by a more concerned and serious outlook.

"Worry not, Sir Bastian." she started, offering a quick smile as soon as she could. "It's not that bad, not bad enough to keep me down at least."

A minor frown caught the corners of his lips as he observed the thin rip in her dress that was outlined with darkening stains. "But it is bad... Sir Geoffrey will have my head if he knew I took my eyes off you for a second."

She passed off a short glance towards the man as though to question his words before she let them drop. "I assure you, it's nothing but a scratch- hopefully shallow enough to avoid making a scar, but it's blood and nothing else." still the wound made her feel just a little bit queasy as she tried to avoid looking at it for a period of time. It wasn't often she took a hit during a battle, in fact she was fairly certain this was only the fourth time she had been struck... most of the other times were by enemy Mages though. Shaking her head, she tried to offer the Count another assuring grin- which seemed to do little to phase him. "I'll find a healer as soon as I can catch a break."

"You cannot let sights befall-"

"Sir Bastian. Enough."

Shaking his head, he kept a closer distance between them but moved his sights to the rest of the battlefield. "Her tide is ever turning out there isn't it? It's like the perfect storm that shows no ease on the battered horizon. It is the mortal against the immortals I suppose... We've learned from our sins but now we must battle them ourselves."

"Worry not, Bastian... I have faith in those we sent forward and those who were left behind as well." she remarked.

Hours felt like they churned on into days despite the lack of movement of the sun above them; wave after wave of enemy forces rushed them with no hesitation, no lack of energy, no sign of slowing down. It was easy to see how their own soldiers were falling, their weapons breaking and snapping with every other hit; forcing them to retreat back to the camp where fresher weapons were laid out for their disposal. Their swordsmen seemed to show the most bodily damages as their uniforms were ripped and torn with blood staining across their opened skin; their swords feeling as though they were fused into their hands now as they went headfirst against any enemy soldier regardless of who it was. She witnessed the green-haired Stefan take a hard hit from a rivaling Marshall that knocked him clean to the ground, had it not been for Lucia's quick reflexes... they might've been down one more soldier. Their Marshalls were beaten with their armor bearing deep gorges, even with sharp punctures piercing through their heavier shields. Mages showed signs of exhaustion from the overuse of magic, while she tried not to seem as exposed as she felt... she could feel her strength draining with every spell and wondered just how much longer she could last. Everyone was suffering the same basic fate of exhaustion... a few were suffering from more though.

She witnessed one of their paladins take a hard hit and get knocked clean off their horse and for a moment she panicked. It only lasted a few short seconds before she watched as the blue-haired Commander rushed in to protect the fallen member.

That slight flutter of her heart was only a mere skipping stone compared to what was soon to follow.

It felt like a rush of heat moved to scorch her back as the Tower behind them erupted into a blinding light of gold; it appeared as though the entire battlefield went into a standstill as everyone turned to see what was going on. The very top level of the Tower was almost blown out with how bright it was... the shine from it wounded her eyes as she moved one hand to shield them from the pain. What exactly was happening? Did they win or lose?

"Look at them..."

The soft words brought her attention elsewhere as she looked back to the field around them, catching sight of the Golden pieces of armor slowly fading away into jilted images... it was almost as though they hadn't even been there in the first place. Slowly and surely, every soldier who born power of the Goddess dissipated as the light at the top began to die down as well.

Did that mean they won?

Was it over now?

It seemed as though as soon as the thought crossed her mind, a sudden wave of uneasiness flushed over her as well. It was a mere flash as though she had closed her eyes for a moment... and then the feeling persisted until it felt as though she was about to pass out; her entire body grew weak and soon enough it felt as though her legs would no longer be able to support her. The leather tome in hand slowly slipped out from her fingers and clattered to the ground below, her senses never once catching up to the matter.

Off in the distance, it seemed like she could hear the sounds of bodies hitting the ground just the same... There was no wonder whose side those noises belonged to now though.

Soon enough, that same feeling washed over her once more, this time completing its cycle as the world around her turned pitch black.

And in that very moment, the world stood still.

Tellius herself remained soundless and unmoving; the sinned inhabitants that had once walked her careful lands now laid upon them in open, untouched graves.

Those inside the tower completely unaware of the consequences of their actions.

While those outside were laid to rest.

...

...

"Momma!"

The voice seemed to be playing from somewhere in the back of her head, the faint echo was easy to ignore at first as she remained lost somewhere in the mess of her subconscious. It felt like her senses were being reborn as everything came in fuzzy and harsh. Fingers curled lightly into the ground below her and yet even as the dirt gave away easily underneath her, she couldn't register the touch of it; she remembered hearing the soft whistle of the wind and smelt the faint sense of lilacs in the distance... and yet none of that was coming to her anymore. It was like just living in a world that no longer moved, that no longer existed, as though it too had given up a long time ago.

"Momma!"

But there was that voice again... she could hear it.

It wasn't all gone.

A soft groan escaped from her lips as she slowly managed to urge her body to move, forcing herself away from the ground and forcing her head to finally remain still. Her vision was the second sense to come back as she glanced down at the soft patch of grass underneath her, noticing the way it was pressed down from her weight... how long had she been out? Shaking her head lightly, she felt the sudden weight of someone throwing their arms around her neck and pushing in against her, knocking her off to the side as her balance remained out of line.

"I thought everyone was gone! I thought you were dead!"

Hands moved to lightly tend to the crying child who snuggled in against her chest, while her senses felt unfocused, she still had one intact. "Oh, Amy honey, I'm so sorry..." she started, it sounded like her words were a little mumbled together but it was close enough. "I don't know what happened... but at least you're okay and I'm okay." fingers moved to tuck aside the loose, violet-red strands that had fallen loose into the girl's face; grabbing a small corner of her cape, she lightly wiped away the tears that had ruined her cheeks. "Now then, let's find out what exactly happened here."

"I remember everything going black." Amy started, pushing her hands away slightly before she moved to rub the back of her own hands across her cheeks. "And then... waking up to no one else moving."

Nodding lightly, she looked around at the unsettling scene around her. There were bodies everywhere... fallen figures of their previous army.

There were small spots of movements though and a mixed collection of groans as a few people began to push themselves up just the same. At least they weren't dead then, right? Maybe just passed out... The tower went off though, right? That was the last thing she remembered... maybe the energy blast from it had been enough to knock them all out.

"Lady Calill, little Lady Amy."

She looked up at the call, watching as the blonde-haired Sage seemed to stumble for a moment before he made his way over to him. He offered a hand to help her up, which she graciously accepted, although her legs had to take a moment to support her weight once more. "Count Bastian... are you alright? What happened?"

"A bit of a headache and a small bump, but nothing to worry over." he answered, fingers touching at the small scrap of one temple. "As for what happened... I haven't an earthly clue, but it seems as though everyone's pulling themselves together, which is good; there will be time for answers later, let's just get everyone back together."

"Sounds like a plan." she replied. "I suppose we should just have to find a place to start."

"Yes well... if you'll excuse me, my heart does beckon to find Lady Lucia." Bastian remarked. "It's good to see that the two of you are alright though."

"And the same to you." she nodded, watching as he returned the gesture before he took to search the rest of the field. There were a few people up and about walking around, trying to help the others who were still unconscious or those who were too wounded to stand on their own. Keeping her daughter nestled against her, she supposed she didn't really even know where to start to look... it seemed like they were all few and far between.

A soft tug on her cape turned her attention back to the smaller girl.

"What did Sir Bastian mean about his heart beckoning for Lady Lucia?"

A small chuckle escaped from her lips at the question. "Count Bastian is infatuated with Lady Lucia... he cares deeply for her and wants to make sure she's okay; he needs to see it for himself in order to believe it."

"Are you going to do the same for Sir Geoffrey?"

There was a brief flutter from the breath in her chest at the curious question before she moved to toy with the curled locks of her daughter's pigtails. "Of course, after all, he needs someone to look after him just the same."

* * *

><p>It was the slight movement in the air that convinced him it was all over.<p>

The wakening sense of consciousness as it flooded throughout his body, making him fully aware of the slightly clouded sky above him... making him realize that he was still just as alive as he had been before. Memories failed to remind him how exactly this whole ending started, how he ended up on the ground or even where his horse went, but for the moment he was okay with that. Despite the continuous rush of feeling eventually returning to his numb fingertips and limbs, he couldn't really convince himself to move. A faint pulse of pain was going off in the back of his head but he couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from, unsure if it was from the collapse to the ground or a sign of an earlier injury. His strength was fluctuating between returning and waning away in a consistent, annoying pattern. He supposed even if it did make a concrete return, he wasn't even sure if he could access it.

Some part of him just wanted to take in the momentary rest so he could take inventory on the injuries that plagued him.

His left arm was essentially useless now, every sense of feeling was gone and his fingertips had long since gone paste white.

There was deep gash that split open his right side- a raging Marshall had been behind that one. While it had bled profusely in its time, it wasn't that serious and wouldn't require that much to heal it.

Other various injuries were mostly cuts and scrapes from being sidelined by other Paladins or running against the sides of swordsmen and Halberdiers. While the minor cuts of flesh burned for a few moments, they were easily forgotten seconds later.

All in all, he guessed he got out lucky on this one; his injuries could've been far worse...

Closing his eyes, he waited to allow for the calming sense of realization to finally take it's toll. It was all over now and judging by the fact that he was still conscious and alive... that means they won. Soon enough, the team from before would emerge from the tower victoriously and this whole mess of countries and war would finally be over; it was almost painful to think of the reconstructions that would soon be taking place, the mark up of treaties and necessary documents that would need to be signed to ensure something like this would never happen again. It would be a story for the history books and hopefully a sign for future generations that this was not a conflict to be repeated.

Just how long had they been out though?

If the others weren't out of the tower yet then they couldn't have been unconscious for that long... unless they had been knocked out just the same.

He had a feeling this was going to be a long and difficult process to complete... and right now, he didn't really want to think about it.

"Oh my Goddess..."

The words sounded like they were off in the distance but he still managed to catch them somehow.

It was only when he felt the cold brush of someone else's hand against his cheek that he realized the voice had been a lot closer than he first imagined. He almost had to force his eyes open just to see who it was at this distance; a slight blur of blue almost convinced him it was just the sky instead... until the images settled on the soft set of eyes above him. It was the loosened strips of blonde hair and the faded red of lipstick that called his attention to who she was.

"Calill..."

It seemed like his sudden words caught her off-guard for a sheering moment before that ever-familiar smile found its way to her lips; a quick rush of relief easily replaced her once tense expression. "Geoffrey... oh, thank the Goddess... if there's still one existing that is..." she whispered, fingers moving to brush aside the darkened bangs that fell across his face before they settled against the bruised curve of his jawline. "Are you alright?"

Fitting his available hand underneath him, he had to shift his strength and balance to keep from snapping his arm out of place as he pushed himself up briefly- much to the slight objections of the Sage in front of him. He wasn't going to lie and say that the motion didn't pull painfully at his wounded shoulder... but he decided not to say much on it instead. "I'm alive, so that's a good sign so far." he started before he looked over to where she was kneeling at his right. The darkened spot that swept across the chest portion of her dress caught his attention, as well as the fraying strands from the fabric itself. Frowning briefly, he moved to touch lightly at the beginning of the tear at her shoulder, watching as she seemed to pull away at the action. "Did you get hit? Are you hurt?"

"It's barely a scratch." she assured quickly, having half hoped that he wouldn't notice the cut... then again, she supposed she should have known better than to think so. "It didn't even bleed that much, why it'll take a Mage two seconds to heal it."

Her answer did little to ease his worries as he noted how the wound cut clean across her chest before it ended just below her right breast; after noting that much though, he quickly turned his sights elsewhere to prevent anyone from thinking that he was staring. "Any ideas on what happened?"

"Not much, just that the tower went off and I suppose the energy was enough to knock us all unconscious." Calill answered, as she tugged at the slightly misaligned sheet of armor on his arm. She watched as he seemed preoccupied with the slowly moving scene around them before she noted the darken material of his left shoulder; it was leaking out from beneath the armor, which showed signs of dried blood along the silver lining. She knew that most paladins suffered shoulder injuries the most since it was the easiest to target on them but... she also noticed how he kept his left arm tightly at his side, either refusing to move it or... unable to.

"I should check on the rest of the Royal Knights and see how they're doing." he remarked, although knowing that the motion to get back to his feet was going to be a difficult one. "Astrid took a really bad hit just before the tower went off, I need to make sure she gets to a Healer. Not to mention I need to check on Queen Elincia and Lucia... Bastian too but he's probably already found the both of them. Sir Renning's probably conscious and rounding them all up though..." he wondered who came out on top for their challenge though, it was probably an odd time to think of such but the thought came and went easily. He started to shift his strength once more before he stopped himself, another quick thought passing through his mind. "Is Amy alright?"

It took her a moment to pull herself from her thoughts and refer back to his question. "Oh, yes of course, in fact she's the one who woke me up just a few minutes before. Laura offered to keep an eye on her while I went out to try and help the others." she answered, watching as he gave a brief nod before he moved to get to his feet. "Wait, wait... let me see your shoulder first."

He brushed aside her hands when she moved to examine the injury and simply continued to push himself to his feet. The motion drew an almost spinning like effect from his head and he had to take a moment to settle his balance out; it felt like his legs almost refused to support his weight but managed to do so at the last minute to keep him from stumbling. "It's quite alright... it's not as bad as it seems."

That was the biggest lie most people told.

Even she was guilty of using it as well.

Urging herself to her feet, she couldn't hide the slight frown that toyed with the corners of her lips as she watched him move to brace the unmoving limb against his abdomen; using his right arm to keep it supported. "You should get a healer to look at that."

"I will... eventually." he replied, catching the sight of her mild expression change that admitted she didn't like his answer the least bit. "I have to finish my duties as Commander first, my health will come later."

She could recall a time before where he used an excuse like that... it just meant it left her no openings to argue with him. "What am I going to do with you, Geoffrey?"

"Well, you could assist me in looking for the others." he started. "And then I suppose you'll force me to seek out a healer afterwards... but I guess as long as it keeps you at my side, I'll happily deal with any matter."


	13. Chapter 13

"What on Tellius happened to you?"

And of course... Lucia, of all people, had to be fully conscious and fully aware of her surroundings... as well as completely able to judge everyone by their injuries. But one couldn't simply overlook the deep gash that tore across the bridge of her nose, or the clean rips in her uniform, a few collective ones tore her red stockings to shreds and left her legs looking more like raw muscle than flesh. What remained of her silver blade was tucked into her belt as though she may need the broken weapon for one last strike on something or someone later on.

But those matching, dark-blue eyes were narrowed and cemented onto his own, leaving him little elsewhere to go.

"Are you alright, Geoffrey?" Elincia questioned, fingers pushing aside her loose locks; the elegant headpiece she wore was missing. For the most part, she seemed unharmed, which meant those in charge of her health had done a well decent job at keeping her safe, which was good. But the faint splatters of blood on her uniform said that she had also been put into the position of defending herself as well... which also meant there must've been a hole in their defense at some time.

But they were both well and alive, which meant that Crimea would live on after this mess.

Still, he wish they had been able to overlook his minor... wounds.

"I'm fine, it's nothing really." he started, although he knew well that his sister would act as though she didn't even hear the words; judging from the slight raise of her eyebrows, he guessed correctly. "I just took a bad hit awhile back-"

"How bad? Let me see it." Lucia started as she took a few steps closer to him.

"Maybe you should be more concerned about yourself than with me." he replied, side-stepping to keep his wounded shoulder out of her reach. "I don't even know how you're still standing at this moment."

"That makes two of us." Elincia added, watching as she gained a quick, short glare from the other woman; the motion only ushered a light chuckle from her lips though. "The important thing is that everyone's okay as far as we can tell... Bastian's checking in with the rest of the Royal Knights, you and Calill were the last ones we were looking for."

"Yes well, I figured someone had to keep an eye on him." Calill remarked as she lightly pushed her elbow into the Commander's side. "I suppose we don't really have any other choice but to sit around and wait for our Goddess-defeating team to return to us though."

The green-haired Queen gave a light shake of her head in answer. "Unfortunately so... which is really quite worrisome. I hope they're okay."

"Well we wouldn't be here right now if they weren't." Geoffrey assured, managing another short side step as his sister tried to reach for his injury once more. "Of course... I do worry for how Kieran is handling himself."

"Knowing him, he's probably already fallen his way back down the hundreds flights of stairs." Lucia retorted, a little upset her last movement had been blocked so easily. One hand moved to tuck aside the strands that insisted on falling into the view of her eyes before she rested it against the back of her sore neck. "We're pulling together what few healers we have now to get some kind of medical tent going. No one seems to be suffering from anything serious though, or at least not life-threatening from what I can tell... we all have our collection of bad hits but I think we'll be okay for the time being."

He gave a brief nod at her statement and looked around at the shifting of movement around them; watching as a few figures hurried about to check on their own people. Speaking of, he turned his attention back to the two women. "How is everyone exactly? I saw Astrid get knocked down-"

"Bastian thinks she might've broken her left leg during the landing." Lucia interrupted, moving to cross her arms over her slightly wounded chest. "Other than that, she's mostly untouched. Makalov got an arrow or two in his right side; the shafts were broken and one of the arrowheads is stuck somewhere between his lower ribs, it's going to require some minor surgery to get out. Marcia's got a lot of cuts and scrapes, she fractured one of her wrists and has a bruised collarbone but Commander Sigrun said she should be okay- she's actually staying with her right now. Danved handled himself pretty decently, I didn't really see anything above a few gashes and maybe some heavy bruises. And then you got Bastian who's unharmed... And Calill who seems to have one cut... and then there's you, who just looks like shit."

"I'd prefer to let you keep that title." Geoffrey replied, noticing it only seemed to put him further down on the woman's list. "Have you seen Sir Renning anywhere?"

She frowned for a moment before a light shake came from her. "No... come to think about it, I haven't seen him; he's probably with Bastian though."

More than likely.

"I'm going to head over and check on the others for myself, just to make sure." he started as he moved to step around his sister, only to have her try to intersect him at the last moment. "Could you be any more annoying right now?"

The remark seemed to do little against her as she seemed persistent on getting on his nerves. He knew well what she wanted and why she was doing it... he just didn't want to deal with her right now; he just wanted to check in on the rest of the Royal Knights, making sure they were in good spirits and then... he didn't know, maybe go see how the others were doing. Or go find Sir Renning if the man still wasn't around. He didn't like playing the waiting game by sitting around and doing nothing.

"I just thought I'd accompany you since it's a rather _long_ walk." the woman spoke, putting a minor emphasis on her words.

"Shouldn't you stay with Queen Elincia?" he reminded.

"I'm sure Lady Calill will do just as fine of a job as I could."

Okay... so maybe she was getting a little desperate here. And he guessed he should ease up on her then. While he had been hoping to keep the Fire Sage at his side... there were other matters that were supposed to take priority. A half-defeated sigh escaped him as he eventually gave into a nod. "Alright fine, you can show me where everyone else is. Lady Calill, if you'll excuse me for a moment-"

"No, no, it's quite alright, I'll stay and keep Queen Elincia company." she assured, taking note of the small sense of hate he had for what was going to be coming up next. She moved her hand to touch briefly against his arm before she gave him a small push forward. "I should actually try to find Amy again while I have the chance, if you run into Count Bastian, tell him that Amy hopes he found what he was looking for."

She watched as he nodded in agreement before he eventually followed after his quick-bearing sister. A light chuckle escaped her at the thought of the would-be conversation they would soon be having... she almost wanted to take pity on him, but he knew how to handle the blue-haired Swordswoman; they two had grown up together after all. She waited until they were out of sight before she looked back to the Crimean Queen who looked more exhausted than anything else. "Well, I suppose this is another victory we could mark up for Crimea."

"And hopefully the last one at that." Elincia sighed. "Are you alright? I noticed your dress was cut..."

"Oh this? Oh, I've told just about everyone today it's nothing to worry about, just a small little brush if that much." Calill assured, waving off the injury like it wasn't even there. "I've had closer calls when working in the tavern."

"I find no reason to doubt that." she chuckled quietly, her hands moving briefly to readjust the belt around her waist. "If you wish to go find your daughter, I wouldn't mind coming along. It would do me some good to go around and check on the others after all."

"Why certainly. If anything, Amy will probably be excited to see you just the same." she nodded before she moved to step back and figure out just where the black haired healer had taken the smaller girl; if the healers were setting up medical tents then she would probably be in the area of most activity... which was both good and bad. It would make it easier to spot where the two could be, but made it more difficult to locate them directly. Well, without a doubt, the girl would find her first anyways. Plus, with the Crimean Queen at her side, everyone would be rushing to get her medical attention if it was needed.

But one couldn't help to notice that the Queen seemed more than preoccupied with other matters at the moment. Hands nervously twisted the thin material of her cape as she walked, her eyes were positioned downward as though she was looking at something that wasn't there... it was almost as if she was looking into another dimension instead. She knew what that look meant, knowing that she herself had carried it once or twice as well.

"Worried about Lord Ike, Your Majesty?"

The Emerald-haired Queen jumped slightly at the question before she offered a light chuckle in response. "There's a lot on my mind right now... a lot for me to worry for and think about." Elincia started. "Lord Ike... well, he's still there for me to think about; if this whole war is over though, he's bound to have survived the Goddess trials one way or another."

"That doesn't stop you from worrying though, does it?"

"Goodness no, when has it ever?"

* * *

><p>"What the hell happened?"<p>

Goddess pray, he knew she was going to rupture an artery the moment she saw the injury. He had to admit, without the heavy armor piece protecting it, the wound was a bit more grotesque than he originally thought. Shreds of flesh hung down with the tears of his shirt, bits and pieces of ripped muscle poked out just the same as blood stained nearly the entire left side of his upper body. If just seeing the wound wasn't enough to put her on the edge, the near depletion of color in his fingertips only moved to finish the job.

"I took a silver lance from the back, it was a through and through for the most part." he answered, trying to be as brief as he could with his answer. "Sir Renning was there if you want a witness to question."

If only looks could kill.

Her quick emotions were sometimes easy to misunderstand. While her expressions were stiff and unhappy, he knew for the most part she was just concerned and worried... she just had a difficult time showing it off at times. Giving a brief shake of his head, he moved past her and continued down the path she had given him, although he could already see where a few of the Royal Knights were resting.

"Ah-ha, my good man Geoffrey!" Bastain called the moment he managed to look into his direction. He walked towards him with open arms and gave no sign of hesitation to put them around him the first moment it was available.

He would've returned the gesture if he could but only gave a short nod and tried to ignore the brief stance of pain that rushed as his wounded side was pulled at. "It's good to see you're okay Bastian, not that I really had any worries for you."

"Tsk, of course not, not even a foot soldier of the Goddess could bask within a few feet of my presence." the Count assured as he stepped back for a moment, eyes eventually looking at the mess of his shoulder. "Tis but a mark of the Goddess' blade-"

"Yeah, something like that." Geoffrey interrupted before he moved past the man. "Oh by the way, Lucia was looking for you."

"Ah, my sweet, sweet Lucia."

That should get her off his back for a while.

Moving over to where the others were seated in the short grass, he noticed how Astrid already had tight bandages tied around her left leg, which she was favoring slightly. The way her hand was resting against her shin told of where the break had more than likely occurred; he remembered watching her take two hard sidelined hits from rivaling paladins, which had been enough force to throw her completely from her saddle. Close to her side though was her pink-haired husband, who kept a bloodied hand pressed against his side; open tears in his uniform pinpointed where the arrows had ripped through. Not too far from them were two of their only Pegasus Knights taking a brief moment of rest; Commander Sigrun seemed to be doing a small job of keeping her younger counterpart in good spirits, which wasn't all that difficult to do anyways.

"Commander Geoffrey, I'm glad you finally came around." the Holy Guard Commander spoke as she eventually pushed herself up from where she had been kneeling. Sporting a few small cuts herself, the woman showed no signs of paying attention to them though and offered a soft smile into his direction.

"And the same to you." he nodded. "I thought I'd try to step out and see where everyone got to, I just wanted to make sure everyone was still accounted for."

"Well... as far as I can tell, we haven't suffered any casualties." Sigrun assured. "It seems as though the Goddess was on our side indeed."

Yes... yes, he supposed she was.

"What do we do now? Marcia called, her arms stretched up above her as she laid back into the soft grass beneath her.

That seemed to be the universal question right now, didn't it? And as far as he knew... that piece of information was escaping everyone. A heavy sign escaped him before he gave a brief shake of his head. "Well, right now we want to get the seriously wounded fixed up and then everyone else would follow after that. And then I suppose we wait for Sir Ike and the rest to return... after that, I think it's pretty much up to everyone to decide what happens next."

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm ready for some peace and quiet." the woman continued, this time trying to stifle a short yawn from her lips.

"I think I can second that motion." Astrid agreed. "If we weren't so exhausted though, I have a feeling we'd be celebrating this event."

"Celebrations will come sooner or later."

* * *

><p>When the team finally re-emerged from the Tower, everyone did their best to give some sort of a celebration; most were too exhausted and injured to move much from where they had been resting. Luckily, those who were sent in after the Goddess born the same brute and were just happy to see that everyone was alive and well. Celebrations could be pushed to a later date, they assured, throwing aside weapons and weighted armor.<p>

While medical tents had been set up beforehand, they were still doing their best to move from soldier to soldier as quickly as they could. The process picked up a bit when the red-headed healer returned, and although he showed brief cuts and bruises from the Tower battles, he showed no hints of letting them slow him down. Those of Laguz Royalty brushed off their wounds and bragged about how the scars would serve their flesh and bodies well; they would symbolize stories to come when they would return to their respective countries. No amount of urging could change their minds and they ushered for those more seriously injured to take first in line.

And while the blue-haired Commander of the Royal Knights assured it wasn't that extreme of a wound, it took the Crimean Queen insisting that it be checked out before he would give in. She passed on a bit of luck his way and said that she'd drop by to visit as soon as the healers were done with him, in the meantime she had to help around the battered camp. Tents were torn and nearly ripped down but quite a few were still salvageable. With the heavy battles behind them, no one expected to make much travel that day and chose to remain in the Begnion city for just one more night if needed be.

The fresh breeze that swept across the open field brought sounds of life returning all around them.

Those frozen, unfortunate souls having earned their gift of life back. To them, the day went on as though nothing had changed.

She wondered if those poor soldiers who had been frozen in the midst of battle knew what to do... their only body of command was missing; leaving foot soldiers to make sense of the mess. There was a bit of faith that they would catch on though and do what was right... and if not, then the situation would be explained at a much later time. Until then, they all had their own problems to worry with.

But the returning sound of laughter as Beorc and Laguzs; Crimeans and Daeins; Begnions and Gallians all interacted and congratulated one another was promising. Hopefully the future would be bright from now on and that they would all learn from their mistakes. She didn't think Tellius could push herself through another war like that after all.

A few short hours seemed to fly by as she busied herself with doing what she could and balancing it between keeping an eye on Amy, who seemed more interested in hearing the talked about stories from different soldiers. It was only when she had a brief run in with Lucia that she realized she hadn't seen the Commander in that small span of time. The woman gave a light huff, her expression a mix of irritation and concern as she explained that his shoulder required a minor spot of surgery in order to fix the damages; she had just gotten back from visiting with him and said he still acted as though it was nothing.

The news came as no surprise to her; the man always tended to be stubborn when it came down to injuries.

But if he was okay enough to have visitors, then perhaps it wouldn't hurt for her to drop by just the same. She tried to make herself look as presentable as she could given the circumstances, taking a few moments standing outside his tent to recompose herself before she lightly pushed the thick material aside. He didn't even notice the movement or even hear the light rustling noise that followed, which gave her a few short minutes to observe what she could of him. There was only one cot given the tiny space inside, which left him to be his only form of company; a thin blanket had been thrown on but it was easy to see where he had knocked most of it aside, leaving most of his upper body to be exposed. Tight, white bandages covered his left shoulder completely and wrapped down around his chest for a few layers; a large bandage was packed against his wounded side just as well.

Several more careful steps brought her closer and when she was certain that he would pick up on her presence... he didn't. His entire body seemed to be pale as though the blood rushed away from his skin to protect vital organs instead; a light layer of sweat had collected on his flesh and there was a suitable, heavy breathing motion that moved his chest in a steady rhythm. She supposed she could see why Lucia had become so irritated with the man beforehand. He was obviously having a difficult time recovering from the quick surgery, which had been performed by mere field healers, but still insisted it wasn't serious enough to warrant worry.

His good hand seemed to force itself to move as it slowly brought itself to his face, fingers touching at the empty space between his eyes as though he was still trying to regain his sense of touch in numb fingertips.

"How are you feeling?" she posed carefully, catching the brief turn of his head as he tried to catch her in the corner of his eye. A light chuckle moved from her lips as she watched him attempt a brief wave as though to toss the question aside.

"I'm getting there."

Several more steps brought her closer to the man as she moved to the other side of the cot where a chair had been pulled up next to it; she imagined either Lucia or one of his earlier visitors had brought it in. Seating herself at a decently close distance, she took note of the slight spot of blood that had stained the bandage. It was small and probably barely noticeable, but it was still there and now that she had spotted it, she couldn't ignore it. His arm was kept close to his side and, while it was still pale, it looked better than it did before.

"Well, at least that's a spot of good news, right?" she continued, watching as he eventually moved his hand to rest against his abdomen now. While it wasn't the time to stare... she couldn't help but to notice the pale scar that resided just a few inches below where his hand was resting. That was the same one he had gotten at the start of this War... She leaned forward and lightly moved to brush aside a few of his loose bangs, taking note how the brief contact brought a slight wrinkle across his brow. "Do you remember anything the healers might've said?"

He took in a deep breath and held it for a moment as he tried to ignore the ringing in the back of his head. "They said they fixed what they could, but right now it's basically just a waiting game to see what happens next. Not entirely reassuring but... better than nothing I suppose."

That was true.

Fingertips touched lightly at the injured limb as she moved to trace the shape of the muscle underneath the skin. "Does it feel any different?"

"A little, not much but... it's something."

She moved her fingers down the shape of his wrist before they eventually rested tip to tip with his own that laid upwards towards the ceiling of the tent. There was a brief twitch that moved across his fingers at the contact, but that was about the only touch of movement to be made. Given the circumstances and the fact that they just out lasted the Goddess herself, she placed her hand against his palm and rested her fingers between the empty spaces of his own; the tip of her thumb moved to trace small shapes into his palm with light, free gestures. "Well that's good... I would hate for you to be the only one to walk away from this with a serious injury."

"It's not even that bad." he assured, able to pick up on the briefest feeling of her touch. He moved his free hand to rest against her slender forearm that was almost lying parallel to his other arm. "The War is over now though... and everyone's looking forward to celebrating..."

A light chuckle crossed her path at the words. "Fear not, as soon as I have the inn rebuilt and the bar restocked, you can bet that we'll finally have that celebration; we might have to have it postponed for awhile until the supplies come in but it'll be the celebration of the year."

"Sounds like quite the proposal."

The extra voice drew her attention to the two new figures standing at the opening of the tent now. She showed no surprise that the blonde-haired Count had finally dropped in... and close behind him was Sir Renning, who looked just a tad odd without his full dress of armor on; it was hard to imagine what the would-be successor of the throne had once looked like, but here he was. She gave a light smile, knowing well that the other Sage had caught sight of their brief physical engagement. "I assure you, it will be." she smiled, eventually pushing herself to her feet at the words. "I suppose I should give you men some space to banter about then."

"I do have to run through some points with Commander Geoffrey here." Sir Renning started. "I believe that Challenge of ours may have ended in a tie."

"I have high doubts about that." he replied, acknowledging the sudden absence of her warm touch against his skin before he turned his attention back to her. "I don't believe we'll ever be able to have a full conversation."

"Perhaps not, but I suppose there's an appeal in never knowing the other half." she remarked as she gently tucked away his loose bangs once more. Hesitation gave in easy as she leaned down and softly brushed her lips against his forehead. "I'll see you soon enough, Commander."


	14. Chapter 14

Recovery was picked up almost immediately after their day of rest as royalty set up meetings and planned treaties to work on the future. Countries worked to pull themselves back together and tried to put things back into their former places... it would still take months, or even years before they could achieve a status like that, but it was worth the struggle. It would seem as though Crimea was the least hit of all the countries of Tellius.

Begnion was working to piece its government back into one house, trying to achieve balance between Apostle Sanaki and a new wave of Senators who were recently elected. The absence of Prime Minister Sephiran took a toll on the younger girl, but with both Commander Sigrun and Captain Tanith at her side, she held a promising role for the Begnion future.

Daein was in the midst of reworking their entire monarchy, with the white-haired Maiden chosen to take the seat; her heart to the Daein people was what pushed her to take the position. Most of those who served in the Dawn Brigade were given positions on the counsel, with only a few of them taking up on the offers. The broken and beaten country had a long way to go for recovery but... with those in charge, it held onto some hope for a more promising tomorrow.

Gallia, while not exactly in need of remodeling, had a minor switch in control regardless with Prince Skrimir taking over when King Caineghis stepped down. While the aspect of not being able to fight any longer seemed to put a minor tweak in their military leaders... they all agreed it was for the best; still, they would keep their claws sharp just in case.

The countries of Phoenicis and Kilvas collapsed into one kingdom under the rule of King Tibarn and moved to reside into the flourishing remains of the Serenes Forest.

It would seem as though every country around them was showing major shifts and adjustments while Crimea stayed just the same. Queen Elincia kept to her throne after Sir Renning proposed that he would simply remain in the shadows and serve on counsel from time to time; the Crimean people seemed to rejoice at the news... a stark contrast to the conflicts that put them into a mess beforehand. The Greil Mercenaries dissipated for now as everyone moved on to find a better use for their skills, but they assured that they would come back together should another crisis arrive from time to time. Elincia had only managed to convince Oscar to return to the Royal Knight ranks, but had been unable to talk Titania into the same deal; the red-headed paladin simply said that her days of fighting were over and she just wanted to see out the rest of her life in peace.

As for the Royal Knights themselves... all seemed to be in order. For now at least.

Astrid and Makalov had requested to take the later part of the new year off to celebrate their fourth anniversary; she had mentioned something about successfully convincing her sisters to meet up with them around that time... and hoped it would all go over easy.

Marcia seemed displeased with the idea but tried not to interfere too greatly with their plans... opting to spend most of her free time with the energetic Kieran instead.

Lucia kept to her role as Elincia's right-hand woman, but with some urging from the Queen herself, she donated some of her time to Bastian- who became a more permanent member to their counsel. Despite her often half-joked remarks about the Count, it was difficult to not notice the chemistry they shared.

He tried not to focus on it all too much... preferring not to think about it at all actually. It was odd to see the woman enjoying the Sage's company, often times keeping her arm lightly locked against his own. But it was even stranger to remember that she was his sister and the Sage was his childhood friend- which didn't actually give him any free chances to escape should something go wrong with their on-going 'relationship.' And as joking as he seemed to be at times, he made sure every word of his threats were given off in truth... which the Count easily made note of.

As for himself... his health was doing much better these days.

Asides from the minor surgery out on the field, he had to get one more to correct a slight infection that stemmed from the first one. It left a battered scar on his shoulder but gave him full control over his arm again, which he had to go through several stages of rehabilitation first in order to get that back. Asides from that however, being the only real strike from the War, he kept himself running the Royal Knights as though nothing much had changed. From time to time, Sir Renning would request a brief spar to re-test his skills and arm; the battles were usually fifty-fifty in terms of either side winning... at the moment, he was down one battle but he was certain he'd make a comeback soon enough. As for how their earlier Challenge went, Sir Renning simply stated that he believed he was in the right condition to protect Queen Elincia... but that he shouldn't let his guard down for he could change his mind at any moment.

It was a little mind numbing to consider, but he made sure to take heed of the man's words.

As for now, the days continued on and Tellius continued to thrive off the new, awakened sense of life that affected every form and body that walked on her surface.

Surprisingly enough, all it took was a few months before the Fire Sage had her inn remodeled and fully furnished again; her bar had been finished a few weeks before, not that it suffered any damages, she just wanted something new to look at.

She was a woman of her word though and as soon as both establishments had been finished, she had the doors opened for anyone willing to celebrate their achievements in the past year.

The first hour was filled with a chorus of cheers and laughter as those who attended enjoyed the fresh trays of refreshing liquor. Everyone else had gone ahead of time while he stayed back to finish a check off on inventory, perhaps that had been for the best though. Walking into the open bar and listening to the heavy sounds of voices from inside, he figured he was kind of glad he wasn't here when it all started- that way he didn't become all caught up in the commotion of it. He pushed his way through the brief crowd of drinkers and slowly moved towards the open bar on the other end of the room, watching as the blonde-haired Sage moved from one end of the counter to the next in just a few steps.

Hands moved to press against the newly installed and polished countertops before he leaned in against the wood; crossing his arms over the flat surface. She moved on past him several times without noticing, which left the situation a little humorous to him as he watched her carry on by without interruption. It seemed only to be a minor, accidental glance in his direction before she completely stopped in her tracks- a brief grin poised on the corners of her lips.

"Commander, why didn't you tell me you were here?" Calill questioned, completely forgetting about her previous orders as she moved her attention to him instead. This was probably one of few times the man was completely without his armor and, for once, she couldn't tell if he looked better with or without it. The usual attire that he wore underneath it was just as suiting... if not a little more since it gave into the shape of his body. "I would have served you first."

A brief chuckle escaped him as he moved to run one hand through his locks. "I actually just walked in, which makes me about an hour late for the first round anyways."

Her arms crossed over the counter just the same, as though to mimic his motions. "Is that so? Well then, why are you so late to my celebration? I thought we all agreed that we would participate in this party... Is my invitation not good enough for you?"

"What? No, we did agree to that and it's nothing to do with the open doors, I just had some last minute things I had to take care of first." he started.

"This is supposed to be a few hours of forgetting about work." she reminded as her hands moved forward to touch lightly against his forearms. "We did plenty of that during the War... so find some time to relax for once."

"At least I showed up, right?" he assured, briefly looking down at where her fingers lightly curled themselves against his bare forearms; her touch was warm while the rounded tips of her recently sculpted nails bore some sense of sharpness to them. "Shouldn't you be following your own advice though? I mean... you're sitting behind the counter while the celebration is on the other side."

"As owner of this bar, I have to-"

"I'm not going to believe that excuse, come on."

She narrowed her eyes briefly at his remark and watched as he stepped away from the counter for a moment, his hands moving to grasp at her own. "A lady doesn't make excuses, Commander."

"I know, but I still consider myself to be in your debt... you did cover my life quite a few times out on the battlefield after all." he remarked.

"Oh, those were barely even a breath of fire to use-" she started, stopping only when she felt a greater force come into contact with one of her legs. Eyes barely had a chance to glance downward before the violet-haired girl was already pulled halfway up the counter; her small chin barely hovering over the edge of it.

"Sir Geoffrey, when did you get here?"

He chuckled briefly at the girl's persistent grin and ability to seemingly pop out of nowhere to engage in moments like these ones. "I just walked in actually, I had some work I had to finish up first, but I figured I could spare a few hours and come visit for awhile-"

"Why are you guys holding hands?"

He forgot he had been in the midst of moving away just before their conversation hit a stand still, leaving their hands still interlocked with one another. The Fire Sage shot a glance in his direction, as though to ask the same question. "Well... in all honesty, I was going to ask your mother here if she would give me the honor of sharing a song or two from the band. I don't think she was going to go for it though."

And just like that, Amy snapped towards the same woman. "Why not, momma?"

How on Tellius...

It took her a few moments before a light chuckle passed through her lips. "Once a Commander, always a Commander, aren't we?"

"I never leave my job to be honest." he replied with his own chuckle. "So what do you say?"

The constant tug on one end of her dress told her that the child next to her was not going to let her say no... not that the negative answer ever would have crossed her mind. "Well now, it'd be terribly rude of me to deny the great Crimean Commander, wouldn't it? I suppose since I couldn't serve you the first drink, then I could make up for it and give you the first dance instead."

He was hoping she would say something like that.

Lifting her arm up, he lead her down along the counter to an area where she could step out and meet with him. It wasn't hard to notice that she had splurged on a new dress, one that fitted her well and kept with the bright colors that she loved to adorn herself with. The long split up one side was present, but the second split was something new... and something even more difficult to look over. "For a moment there, I thought you were going to reject me."

"Not even I could be that harsh." Calill remarked with a light wink before she moved to link her arm with his own; leading him this time over to where the dance floor remained partly opened. A few other patrons were swinging one another around in some kind of graceful manner... one that she partly frowned upon. Even if the celebration was one for everyone to take, there should still be some kind of grace to be taken with it. Or dignity anyways. Then again, by offering free drinks, that wasn't exactly asking for dignity to be present. "Is there a song you want to request?"

"I think they'll know." he assured, brushing his way through the crowds. He thought for a moment he spotted Lucia through the group, but told himself to ignore her if it was. He didn't really need one of those 'looks' ruining his evening right now. Finding a suitable spot on the floor, he moved to pull her around to face him; setting his free hand on her hip, he pulled his arm free from her own and moved to entangle their fingers. "Does that bother you?"

"I get the chance to dance with the Crimean Commander, I don't think the song choice matters." she replied, as she fell into the position with him; moving one hand to press against his shoulder. It hadn't occurred to her earlier but with her fingers lightly tangled in the soft material of his shirt, she noted that his left shoulder had been fully healed at this point. The last time she had seen him, he still had it wrapped up but was just starting to rehabilitate it. Now, it seemed to be completely functional now, maybe not back to its previous function but close. "Nice shoulder, you've been working out?"

"Something like that." he chuckled. "It's still a little sore but I can throw my javelin again... not as far, but it's better than not being able to move it at all." just as he imagined, the band dropped the tempo they had been going at and slowed it down to something more appropriate. How exactly he knew they would do something like that, it wasn't necessarily clear but he had a feeling since most of them were patrons here anyways... they'd want to do something for the woman.

The change of music was a little suspicious but she wasn't going to complain about it. After all, it gave her a good excuse to stand chest to chest with the man. "I'm glad it all worked out in the end."

Step by step it all worked with the music, which garnered a few extra pairs to join in with them. It seemed like some people were eager to give in to the influence of alcohol and throw their arms around someone they were amused by. There were a few faces he recognized... Makalov and Astrid were on the other side, it was obvious she had pulled him on to join her; Lucia seemed to be having pity on Sir Bastian and allowed for him to pull her onto the hardwood floor.

He couldn't stop himself from looking into those bright eyes of hers and smiling lightly at the soft shade. "Yeah, you could say something like that."

"Speaking of things working out..." she started, moving her legs with his own as she followed his lead which was guided by the soft music playing in the air around them. "Beforehand you had mentioned something about... trying things out once the war was over, do you intend on keeping to that?"

"I'd be a liar if I didn't."

"Is this the first step you're taking towards that promise then?"

"It's a small one, but it's a start."

* * *

><p>The soft chirping of the morning birds outside called for a brief eclipse in her sleeping pattern and drew those sky-blue eyes to open towards the partly blinded window on the other side of the room.<p>

"Momma!"

And of course, that voice was always there to accompany the birds. A light smile caught onto the corners of her lips at the call and she slowly moved to push herself up from underneath her blanket.

"I'm up, I'm up." she called back, hearing a mix of laughter and feet running down the corridor in the opposite direction. Shaking her head, she chuckled lightly and considered taking the extra ten minutes it would take for the girl to notice that she wasn't going to get up just yet. Stifling a short yawn, she moved to brace herself against the broad figure that took up the space next to her. "And the countdown begins."

He chuckled right along with her before he slowly moved to roll over onto his back; one arm moving to shift underneath her and rest against her shoulder when she moved to lie against his chest. "I think she's catching on though."

"I hope not."

Using his free hand to brush aside his dark-blue strands, he managed to open one eye to the window close by. The intensity of the light outside said about an hour or two after dawn... even on their off days, they couldn't afford to sleep in by just a little bit. He supposed the honeymoon had long since been over, so there was no excuse to be taking any more breaks. Still... one more couldn't hurt. "Maybe if we're lucky, she'll give us five minutes at least."

Yawning once more, she shifted herself once more and moved to lay her head against his collarbones. "You know, she used to sleep just fine until you came along."

"You raised her." he reminded.

"You're the Commander here."

Fingers moved to brush aside the loose, messy strands that had partly covered her face and tucked them behind one ear. The blanket that was tangled in and around them was pulled up under her arms to reveal the bare flesh of her shoulders and some of her slender back. For a woman who had always talked and bragged about how flawless she was... she was telling the truth about it all. She always had been despite what others might have claimed.

Keeping one arm braced underneath her, he turned slightly and moved to pull her in against him; wrapping his other arm around her free side to cradle her into his chest. He brushed his lips against her warm forehead and felt the light pressure of her nails curling into the curves of his shoulders.

"My position in the Crimean army has nothing to do with her morning habits."

Fingers moved to trace shapes against his skin before she tilted her head back to catch the curve of his lips against her own. "No, but she just loves spending so much time with you."

"Jealous?" he teased.

She moved to cup her hands against his jawline and pulled him in against her; sealing the air between them as she bore her lips against his own. The subtle motion was enough to draw him in and allow for their previous argument to be thrown out. He had this signature type of taste and motion to him as he brought one hand against her jawline and pushed her head back; guiding her lips open with his tongue. All those years of fantasizing what it would be like to kiss him... the reality of it was far better than any kind of imagination she had.

"Dad! Make momma get out of bed!"

Breaking out of their embrace, he gave into another chuckle before he turned his attention to the girl shielded out in the hallway. "I'm working on it."

"Okay!"

Shaking his head, he looked back to the woman who playfully rolled her eyes at him. "Well you heard her."

She moved to push him away and rolled back over onto her side of the bed; one leg moving to dangle over the edge of the bed before the second one joined as she pulled herself into a sitting position. "I just love how you two have suddenly turned against me."

He watched as she took a moment to try and pull herself out from the last leg of sleep before he leaned over and kissed the bare curve of her spine. "I love you, you know that."

Turning slightly, she moved to push her fingers through his messy strands and pulled them away from his face. "You don't have a choice now, do you?"


End file.
